A Family United
by DianneRose2016
Summary: Full Summary Inside. Kakashi has searched the world for three years for Sasuke after being kidnapped by the Sound Four. He never expected to find him holding a newborn baby. Now with the Sound and Akatsuki still in the picture can Kakashi keep them safe? Or will Sasuke have to face his fears and go back out into the battlefield to keep his daughter safe? Warnings Inside.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Okay so I hate Mpreg. I don't even read them and I never thought I would be writing one. Hear me out though, I had an idea and it just seemed so good I had to write it. If Mpreg is not your thing I totally get it. This story only has mentions of it. There will be no actual pregnancy written into it. If you like my other stories you will like this one. All I ask is that you trust me and read the first chapter and see how you feel about it. If it's not your thing then no worries and happy reading. But this one is going to be very different compared to the other Mpreg stories out there. And if you love Kakashi/Sasuke fatherly relationships then you are going to love this one. So trust me and just try it out and see.**_

 _ **Summary: Kakashi has been searching the Earth for three years trying to find Sasuke after he was kidnapped by the Sound Four. When he finally does he never expected to find him with a newborn baby in his arms. Now that they are both safe and in Konoha, Kakashi is helping Sasuke raise his newborn daughter. But with the Sound still active and the Ataksuki's war on the horizon will Kakashi be able to keep them safe? Or will Sasuke have to face his fears and get back out in the battlefield to keep his daughter alive?**_

 _ **Story Warnings: Mentions of torture, mentions of past rape, mentions of Mpreg, mentions of human experiments, violence and swearing.**_

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Chapter 1

Kakashi stood there in between the trees blended into the darkness of the night. Kakashi couldn't believe it had taken so long for them to finally be here. Naruto and Sakura were with him and they were on yet another A-Ranked mission. They were about four days away from Konoha, but Kakashi had a special scroll with a special seal on it that would teleport them back to Konoha's hospital once they had their target captured. It had been three years since that night that changed everything. A night that had changed Kakashi's world. Three long years he had been out looking for a long lost friend. Three long years of traveling around the world and speaking with people who might know of the location his friend was being held captive in for three years. Three years of his friend being tortured and Kakashi couldn't bring himself to think of what else could have been happening to him. Kakashi had traveled this world for three years, barely stopping into Konoha when he was in the area. He was exhausted and worn down, but it had all been worth it if they were able to pull this off tonight. As Kakashi stood there waiting for the right moment for them to breach the underground compound he thought back to the moment when his life completely changed.

Flashback

 _Kakashi had just been about to leave his home and head to meet with his team when there was a knock at his door. He opened it to reveal an ANBU standing there._

" _Yes?" Kakashi asked._

" _The Hokage is requesting your presence for an urgent matter Kakashi-San."_

" _I'm on my way." Kakashi said as he stepped out and closed his door behind him._

 _The ANBU disappeared and Kakashi made his way to the Hokage Tower. He went quickly, because it wasn't normal for Tsunade to be summoning him with an urgent matter. He knew that she wouldn't have said it was urgent just to get him to come on time and not later. She would never risk him not showing up for an urgent matter when he expected it wasn't. Kakashi arrived at the Hokage Tower and he went up to the top floor for Tsunade's office. Once there he knocked before he walked in. He saw Tsunade sitting there at her desk with complete seriousness on her face. Kakashi knew that something bad had happened and he was not going to like what she had to say._

" _A villager came to me this morning to inform me that last night he saw four Sound ninjas leaving the village. One was carrying a large barrel in his hands. Based on the description that the villager gave me they are known as The Sound Four. They all have curse marks that have given them strength and the ability to change their forms. The villager said they looked like part demons. I have sent out an ANBU squad to find them and one to Uchiha Sasuke's home just in case. I wanted to make sure he was alright and unharmed. When the ANBU arrived he found the apartment was destroyed and blood was on the floors. Uchiha Sasuke is missing. I suspect that he was being kept in that large barrel for transportation."_

" _When did the villager see them leave this morning?" Kakashi asked with worry and concern for his now kidnapped student._

" _Five this morning. Sasuke has been missing for two hours now and they will be well onto their way to the Sound. My hope is that the squad I sent out after them will have caught up to them quickly so Sasuke can be taken back and brought back here. The blood in his apartment was his, but how injured he is I don't know."_

" _What direction did they go in?"_

" _North. Hurry the ANBU might need your help if they catch up to them."_

 _Kakashi didn't say anything he just turned and headed out of the office. He ran as fast as he could to reach the training grounds to where Naruto and Sakura were. He needed to tell them what happened to Sasuke before he took off after the ANBU. He wasn't going to let them go with him. It was too dangerous. Sasuke was strong and a good fighter, especially for his age. If he was attacked by four Genin or even Chounin he would have been able to get out of there. He could handle his own and Kakashi had seen that. He was sure that Sasuke had more talent and abilities that he kept hidden for his own reasons. Kakashi had never pushed him on it and he figured that Sasuke would show him everything one day when he was ready. Kakashi did know that if Sasuke couldn't even get out of his apartment before he was taken then Naruto and Sakura wouldn't stand a chance and he wasn't going to risk them getting hurt or taken themselves. Kakashi arrived at the training grounds and Naruto and Sakura were there waiting for him. They both looked shocked to see him there this early when normally he would have been much later._

" _Kakashi-Sensei, you're so early you beat Sasuke-teme here." Naruto said with a smile._

" _Do we have a mission Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura asked._

" _No. Sasuke was kidnapped by four Sound ninja this morning. Tsunade has sent out an ANBU squad after him. He was taken just over two hours ago. I am on my way after them and hopefully we will retrieve Sasuke and bring him back here."_

" _What? What does that Sound want with Sasuke?" Naruto asked with anger._

" _Orochimaru wants Sasuke. He is the one that put the curse seal on Sasuke. You've both have seen it. If Orochimaru gets his hands on Sasuke there is no telling what he would do to him. I have to go after him and hope we reach them in time."_

" _We're coming with you." Naruto said._

" _You are not coming with me. You both are staying here. I am not going to risk the both of you in this fight. You are staying here and that is an order. I don't have time to argue with you. I have to go. I will see you both once I have returned." Kakashi said before he disappeared into the trees and left the area._

 _Kakashi wasn't going to stop until he got Sasuke back. He pushed his body faster and faster so he could reach the ANBU and hopefully reach the Sound Four and get Sasuke back._

End of Flashback

Kakashi had been able to catch up to the ANBU squad, but they hadn't been able to catch up to the Sound Four. They didn't know what way they went, but they had been able to travel fast and without a trace. Kakashi had gotten his ninja hounds to try and find any trace of them, but even they struck out. They had traveled around for a week before the ANBU said they had to return back and try something else. Kakashi had returned to the village only to inform Tsunade that he was leaving the village and he wouldn't be back until he had found Sasuke. Tsunade didn't even try and convince him otherwise she knew that Sasuke was Kakashi's favourite student. Tsunade knew that Kakashi had taken Sasuke under his wing and trained him for the final round of the Chounin Exams. Kakashi had come to care for Sasuke and they were often together going out to train or to have dinner. Tsunade had always thought it was a good thing for Sasuke and Kakashi. Sasuke needed a father figure in his life and Kakashi had needed someone that needed him. Sasuke fit perfectly for Kakashi. Sasuke was a lot like Kakashi and he was independent. Sasuke didn't need someone to be there for him all of the time. He was hard to reach emotionally just like Kakashi had been and it would be good for Kakashi to work on connecting more with his emotions. Tsunade knew that Kakashi would take the loss of Sasuke the hardest and she expected that he would be gone until the day came that he either gave up hope or he found Sasuke.

Kakashi had spent the last three years searching all over the world for Sasuke and he had finally found the location of the Sound hideout. It was one of many and this one was underground just like the others. He had only brought Naruto and Sakura with him because of the level of sneaking they would need to do. If he stormed in with multiple squads then they would be found out and they might not be able to get to Sasuke in time. With just the three of them they could sneak around and try to find Sasuke and get him out without Orochimaru noticing them. Kakashi had been training as well for the past three years so he could take on Orochimaru should he have to fight him to free Sasuke.

It was just ten at night when it was finally dark enough and quiet enough around the entrance for them to begin their assault onto the base. Kakashi turned to Naruto and Sakura and gave the nod. The three of them approached the entrance and Kakashi picked the lock very quickly before they entered the underground base. Kakashi hadn't been able to feel Sasuke when he was outside, but the second he was within the Compound he could feel Sasuke's chakra very lightly. It was enough to reassure him that Sasuke was here in this Compound and not already in another one. Kakashi used that to guide him to where Sasuke was located. It seemed like most of the ninja and followers were asleep or in large rooms together. Kakashi was thankful for that. When they did come across someone Kakashi would take care of it by putting them to sleep. Kakashi didn't want to kill everyone as it would cause too much of a situation. He just wanted to get in and get Sasuke and get out without having any troubles.

Kakashi followed Sasuke's chakra signature all throughout the base. He could feel it getting stronger and stronger and when they finally arrived outside of the room Kakashi prepared himself for what they would see on the other side. Kakashi opened the door and there wasn't anything that could prepare him for what he saw. Sasuke was standing there with a bloody knife in his right hand up towards the door from the sound. He had blood covering his front and Kakashi could see the deep and long cut that ran across his lower stomach. Orochimaru was on the ground with his throat slit completely and his eyes were dead. Kakashi couldn't feel Orochimaru's chakra at all and he knew that Orochimaru was in fact dead and not just playing dead. What shocked Kakashi the most was the little baby in Sasuke's left arm.

Kakashi held up his hands to show Sasuke that he wasn't going to hurt him. Kakashi didn't know how Sasuke was going to react to them. He also didn't know where the baby came from. For now Kakashi was going to assume that Sasuke came in here to save the baby. Kakashi could see Sasuke shaking and he was losing a lot of blood. He needed to act quickly so they could get Sasuke and this baby out of here and back to Konoha where they would both be safe.

"Sasuke, listen to me. You are losing a lot of blood. You need help. We're not here to hurt you. I know you remember us and you know you can trust us. You can trust me." Kakashi said gently as he walked closer to Sasuke.

Sasuke took a step back, but he didn't have much strength left. The little baby wasn't making any noise and Kakashi was worried that the little baby was dead in Sasuke's arm.

"That little one in your arms Sasuke, it looks sick. The baby needs help. I have a scroll with a transportation seal on it. I just have to open it and all of us will end up in Konoha's hospital. It's late at night and only Tsunade will be there. You need to let us help you and that little one. You killed Orochimaru to protect it right? To save the baby." Kakashi said gently hoping he was right about that.

"Her." Sasuke whispered, but Kakashi didn't catch it.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you Sasuke." Kakashi said gently back.

"Her." Sasuke said with a hitch to his voice.

Kakashi could see the collar around Sasuke's neck and he figured that it must be what was giving Sasuke the hitch to his voice. Kakashi slowly pulled the scroll from his pouch as he approached Sasuke once again with Naruto and Sakura keeping back and quiet. Kakashi had told them long ago that they were not to speak to Sasuke until they got him out. One wrong word and it could all end differently. They weren't going to risk Sasuke's freedom for the chance to speak to him and screw up.

"You killed Orochimaru to save her right Sasuke? Let me help her. I can free you both from here. I just need you to put that knife down and we can be in the hospital within seconds." Kakashi could see Sasuke thinking about it and he knew he just need to push a little more. "It's okay Sasuke, do it for her. She needs help. She needs you to put that knife down. It's okay." Kakashi said gently.

Sasuke looked to the baby and he let go of the knife and it clanked down to the ground. Kakashi opened the scroll and Naruto and Sakura moved close enough so they would be included in the seal. Kakashi put his blood over the lettering and they were all engulfed into a circle before they were transported into the hospital. Sasuke had the baby now in both arms and he fell with the stress of the transportation seal. Kakashi bet down beside Sasuke and spoke.

"Sasuke, I need you to hand me her. She needs to get checked out to make sure she is going to be okay."

Kakashi couldn't wait for Sasuke to hand her over. He gently began to take her from Sasuke's arms and handed her to Tsunade. Tsunade took the baby and Kakashi grabbed the towel that was handed to him by a nurse and pressed it against Sasuke's long cut on his stomach.

"Take her and check her out. She is your responsibility." Tsunade said as she handed the baby over to Sakura.

"Hai Sensei." Sakura said as she took the baby and ran down the hallway to find the paediatric wing.

Tsunade spoke as she put on her gloves.

"I need him on a bed in an examine room Kakashi. I need all of the O-negative blood we have in examine room one nurse." Tsunade ordered.

Naruto went over to Sasuke and with the help of Kakashi they were able to get Sasuke up and onto a bed. Sasuke was becoming restless though and he was struggling to get away from the hands.

"It's okay Sasuke." Naruto said hoping Sasuke would find it comforting and not scary.

"Move Kakashi." Tsunade ordered once they were in the room.

Kakashi moved out of the way so Tsunade could look at the cut. She shook her head as she whispered to another nurse beside her softly so Sasuke wouldn't hear her.

"He needs surgery let's get him a sedative to put him out."

"Yes Ma'am." The nurse said as she went over to the cabinet to get the sedative that would take Sasuke under.

"Sasuke, I know you are confused and scared right now. I need to put you to sleep so I can work on you. I am going to give you a sedative and that will put you to sleep. You won't be any pain at all." Tsunade explained calmly.

Sasuke started to thrash around to try and get away from the hands and from the nurse as she approached with the needle.

"Sasuke it's okay." Kakashi said trying to get Sasuke to understand they didn't mean to hurt him.

Sasuke continued to fight everyone's hands from him. He was weak and exhausted, but he wasn't going down easy it seemed. Kakashi gently placed his right hand against Sasuke's cheek to get Sasuke to look at him as he spoke gently and softly to Sasuke to try and calm him down.

"Sasuke listen to me. You are safe. They will not hurt you. Tsunade needs to give you something to put you to sleep so she doesn't hurt you. Please stop fighting just let the nurse give you the medicine so you can sleep and not be in pain."

The nurse took her chance and went and administered the sedative to make Sasuke sleep so they could operate on him. Kakashi could see Sasuke still fighting the drug and Sasuke whispered very softly with a hitch in his voice.

"Protect her." Sasuke started to cough up blood and Kakashi knew they didn't have long.

"I promise I'll keep her safe." Kakashi said assuming that Sasuke meant the baby.

"Daughter." Sasuke forced out as he fought against the drug. Only Kakashi had heard him from the noise in the room.

"I give you my word Sasuke. I will protect her until my very last breath. Don't fight the medicine anymore Sasuke. Go to sleep I'll be here when you wake up. It's okay. You will both be okay I promise." Kakashi pledged.

Sasuke stopped fighting the sedative and allowed it to take over his body. He went under and was free from the pain for a little while. Kakashi looked over at Tsunade and Tsunade began to give out orders.

"He needs surgery let's go we need to hurry."

"I'm going to be with the baby." Kakashi said.

"I'll have a nurse come and update you. It'll be a few hours though Kakashi."

"I'll still be there."

Tsunade gave a nod and they pushed Sasuke's bed out of the room and down the hallway where they could operate on him and hopefully save his life. Kakashi let out a shaky breath before he headed down the hallway himself to get to the children's ward to check in on Sakura and the baby. Once there Kakashi went into the examine room where Sakura was with the baby. She had the baby in an incubator and Kakashi had instantly feared the worst.

"How is she?"

"She's early. She's thirty-four weeks from what I can tell so far. She's four pounds and one ounces. She will need to be kept here for at least a week to make sure she is gaining weight. I'm going to need to run tests to make sure she is healthy. Her heart and lungs sound good though, even though she is six weeks premature. She was just born though, like five minutes before we got there born. I don't know how Sasuke got her. Maybe Orochimaru killed the mother and Sasuke saw it and went after him to get the baby. The umbilical cord was tied off right so she didn't bleed out. I don't think she is going to have any problems, but I won't know for certain until I get the test results back. I want to make sure she has enough iron and sugar in her blood and there aren't any surprises. How is Sasuke?" Sakura asked with concern.

"Tsunade had to take him into surgery. I don't know how bad it is. He's lost a lot of blood. He was real worried about this little one. I promised I would stay with her until he woke up." Kakashi said. He didn't know who Sasuke wanted to know the truth about the baby. So for now he was going to keep it a secret until Sasuke told him otherwise.

"Well this little one has no name so far. Hopefully she is fully healthy and just needs a week to gain some weight. A nurse is going to get some formula so I can feed her and hopefully she takes well to it. I would hate to have to put in a feeding tube in her. She's so small I would hate to do that to her." Sakura said sadly.

"I'm sure she will be fine. You said her lungs and heartbeat is good."

"Yes she is hooked up to a heart monitor and a monitor for her breathing to make sure, but so far she is healthy. All good signs. Now we just need to know how Sasuke is and hopefully they both will be alright."

"I hope so as well."

"What was wrong with Sasuke's eyes? I know his right eye is yellow from lack of sunlight, but his left eye it was this pale blue with circles around it." Sakura asked with concern.

"It's called Rinnegan. It's rare and by blood only. It's not something he would have learnt or unlocked within himself. Only Sasuke would know how he got the eye. It's not dangerous at least."

"He's been through so much. He didn't look good at all. He's clearly starved and exhausted. I just hope he gets better and will be okay again."

"With time I'm sure he will. It's going to be a while though Tsunade said before she is out of surgery with Sasuke. I'm going to be here until Sasuke is out of surgery."

"Stay as long as you want." Sakura said with a calming smile.

Kakashi went over to the incubator and looked at the little girl. He couldn't see any of Sasuke's features within her, but she was only ten maybe fifteen minutes old. She was a newborn and had a long road ahead of her. Kakashi didn't know how he felt about any of this. He never expected to find out that Sasuke had a newborn baby girl when he had finally rescued him. Kakashi could only think about getting Sasuke out for the past three years. Now that he had finally been able to rescue Sasuke he needed to figure out what to do now. Kakashi knew he wasn't going to walk away from Sasuke. Kakashi had a one bedroom house. He could easily move so Sasuke and his daughter could live with him. Kakashi knew Sasuke was going to need a lot of help and Kakashi wasn't about to let Sasuke deal with everything on his own plus a newborn baby. There was no telling how Sasuke would handle having a baby in the house and in his care. Sasuke was a traumatised sixteen year old. The stress of a newborn would be extreme for him and there was no guarantee that Sasuke would be able to handle it right now. Kakashi was going to be there for Sasuke the whole way. He was going to help him get through his trauma and raise his daughter. Sasuke had become the closest thing to a son that Kakashi knew he would ever have. The last three years had been hard on Kakashi and he wasn't going to let Sasuke and his daughter down now. Kakashi put his hand through the hole in the incubator and held onto the little girl's hand and he stood there waiting for when he would get news on Sasuke.

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It was four hours later when Tsunade had finally come into the room where Kakashi was sitting with the baby. Kakashi had sat down in a chair next to the incubator and was still holding the baby's little hand. The nurse had come in to feed her some formula and Kakashi was relieved to see that she took it. She didn't drink much, just an ounce, but the nurse said it was to be expected at first. Kakashi was hoping the test results would come back that she was healthy and just needed to gain some weight. Kakashi hadn't heard anything about Sasuke and the longer he went without hearing about Sasuke the more worried he got. When Tsunade finally came into the room Kakashi was relieved and terrified at the same time.

"How is he?" Kakashi asked with worry.

"He is in a private room and recovering. I have the baby's test results as well. Which would you like first?" Tsunade asked calmly as she closed the door to give them privacy.

"How is the baby first?"

"She is six weeks premature, but her lungs are fully developed and her heartbeat is strong. All of the tests came back that she is healthy despite the odds it would appear. She does have low iron and sugar right now and she is having a difficult time keeping her body heat, but that is to be expected given how early she was born and her size."

"Will she be alright?"

"She will be perfectly fine once she gets enough food into her and some weight. I am comfortable enough to say that she could leave in a week."

"And the DNA?"

"I'll come back to that. It's complicated and connected to how Sasuke is doing."

"Ok, how is Sasuke?"

"He's going to take a long time before he is able to recover from everything that happened to him. Physically he's been through a lot. The long cut I was able to repair the damage and he will make a full recovery. He's been tortured brutally and with cruelty that I have never seen in my life. He was operated on based on the internal scaring he was only paralyzed for it and not sedated. He would have felt everything and been in extreme pain. He had organs removed and put back in. His right arm has been amputated and then reattached. He has full use of it, but it would have been unbearable. His left eye has also been removed and the new eye was implanted into him. It is functioning and just like yours it is not effecting him. It doesn't appear to be drawing any chakra from him unlike yours though. His body has accepted it and it is functioning just as his left eye is. He is malnourished and has a Vitamin D deficiency from being kept underground. He is on a vitamin drip as well as an I.V to help get some nutrients back into his body and hydrated."

"What about his voice, he has a hitch to it."

"His wind pipe and vocal cords have some deep bruising on them from the collar and how tight it was on him. His neck is also covered in deep tissue bruising as well. There is also bruising all throughout his brain from being beaten. The bruising is nothing to concerning, it will heal and with it healing his brain will return to normal. Currently right now the hitch in his voice is from the bruising on his brain. He will also have some memory problems and he could be forgetful at times. His hands may shake and there will be days where he just feels horrible. He could also have dizzy spells and headaches. It won't be fun, but it will heal and his brain will turn back to normal function. He has been brutally raped for the past three years as well. He is going to have a lot of problems dealing with everything mentally and emotionally. He needs time and there is no telling what mental state he will be in."

"He won't be alone. I can get him through it. I know this little one is his. He told me she was his daughter before he was sedated. I haven't told anyone. I don't know if he wants anyone to know or not. Do you know how the mother is?"

"That is where it becomes complicated I am afraid. When I was repairing the damage from the knife I noticed that Sasuke's organs weren't in the right place, or the usual place. He had a uterus implanted inside of him. From what I can tell it's been there for two years."

"Wait what?" Kakashi asked confused and shocked.

"The uterus had Sasuke's DNA within it, I had it tested. Orochimaru was running experiments and he was able to grow it from Sasuke's DNA, it is the only reason why his body didn't reject it and completely shut down. The uterus was surgically implanted into him and his other organs moved around to make room as this little one grew. Sasuke was then basically a surrogate. A fertilized egg would be implanted into him and it would either work or it wouldn't much like a normal surrogate. The problem is Sasuke is male and the male body is not meant to be pregnant and have children. Sasuke has another long scar on his lower abdomen just like the one he will have from this last cut. It's in my opinion that there was one other baby before this one and it most likely didn't make it and Sasuke or Orochimaru cut it out and Orochimaru tried it again. There is no telling how many times Sasuke was implanted with eggs before this little one finally made it. Based on the angle of the cut Sasuke was the one to deliver the baby and make the cut on his stomach."

"That's why he killed Orochimaru. He had to protect her and push past his fear. So he killed him and was probably going to try and escape." Kakashi said sadly.

"Most likely he wasn't thinking that far ahead. He just knew he needed to kill Orochimaru and protect his daughter. It wouldn't have been right away, but a girl would have been perfect for Orochimaru once she hit puberty and could get pregnant."

"What is this going to do to Sasuke? Does he get the hormones like women do?"

"His levels are coming back clear and in a good range. I wish I had the answers to this, but I just don't. This has never happened before. It will either go one of two ways. Sasuke will either not be able to look at her without seeing all of the pain he went through. He could not want her or even hate her. He could become very depressed and not want anything to do with her and give her away without even naming her. Or he could go to the other extreme and that is refusing to leave her out of his sight. Not wanting anyone around her, not sleeping just so he can keep his eyes on her. He becomes so protective of her that it becomes obsessive and it runs his body down. I don't know which option it will be, but my educated guess would be the second."

"He killed Orochimaru to protect her. He wouldn't even let her go and his first thought was about her before he even registered himself. He asked me to protect her. He won't want to give her up."

"And he doesn't have to. I am not about to tell Sasuke he can't take care of her. He will need help with it whether he wants it or not. He won't physically be able to do it by himself. He will have my full support on this and whatever he needs I will do my best to ensure he has it. There is one part of the DNA that you will find upsetting."

"Please tell me it is not Orochimaru's DNA." Kakashi said with anger.

"No, experiment or not you can't change the laws of nature. The DNA has Sasuke as the father and he is also the one to carry the child. The female DNA came back as your older sister." Tsunade said gently.

Kakashi was shocked and he shook his head slightly to try and get it cleared so he could think clearly. He had been running around the world for three years searching for Sasuke and that had taken a lot out of him. He was exhausted and he was trying to think clearly.

"That's not possible. She died over twenty years ago. I was three when she died from a blood disease. She couldn't be the mother."

"I did some checking to find out how it is even possible. At the time of your sister's illness Orochimaru was working on her case. He suggested that she had some eggs removed and frozen as there was a high chance that her treatment would make it impossible for her eggs to be fertilized. She did and after she died before Orochimaru was thrown out of the village they were still there being kept frozen. Six years ago they went missing. No one thought anything of it. It had been a long time since they were frozen and the tech thought that they were removed from being damaged and no longer viable. As it turns out Orochimaru or Kabuto had stolen them. I know this is a lot to take in for you Kakashi, but she is your niece." Tsunade explained calmly.

Kakashi ran his hands through his hair as he stood up and walked around the small room. He didn't even know what to think about all of this. It was a lot to take in. He never expected to have children of his own, it just wasn't something he was interested in doing. He was perfectly fine with being on his own without children. Now he just learnt that he had a niece and Sasuke was the father. It was just too much to handle and he knew that Sasuke would be having an even harder time with it all.

"This is unbelievable. I have spent three years searching all over this world just to find Sasuke. To find someone that had become like a son to me, something I never thought I would ever have or even wanted. Only when I do finally find him he killed Orochimaru and was holding a baby in his arms. Then I find out she is his and now she is my niece from my dead sister. This insane."

"I know this is a lot to take in and Sasuke is going through this even more than you. I don't know if he knows who the mother is or not. It is a lot to take in at once."

"He probably doesn't know. We are obviously going to have a conversation. If he does want to keep her, which I don't see him not doing, is that going to be a problem with his age and what happened to him?"

"Legally speaking, no. I am not about to take her from him. I know everyone will be there for him and help him with her while he recovers. If Sasuke does wish to keep her and raise her I think it would be better for his mental and emotional health then him giving her up. He will have the support of the village completely."

"He'll have mine as well. I need to speak to him when he is able to have a conversation and see what he wishes to do. Hopefully he will agree to living with me and I can be there with him to help take care of her. I need to talk to him about it. I just hope it's a conversation he is ready and able to have. There is no telling just how screwed up his mind is going to be from the past three years."

"Just go slow with him and try not to push. He needs rest desperately right now."

"I won't push. What room is he in?"

"315, it's a private with his own bathroom. I'll keep him in for a week, same as this little one. There is no point in discharging him before her I have a very strong feeling he won't leave until she can."

"I don't think he will. She's okay to be alone for a little while?"

"She is perfectly fine and sleeping. A nurse will be in every two hours to feed her and if she cries someone will hear her. Go and sit with Sasuke, he should be waking up in a few hours."

"Thank-you Tsunade-Sama, until Sasuke says otherwise I would prefer if you kept the DNA a secret for now."

"I won't say anything. I know you are worried about Sasuke and now this little one, but try to remember to take care of yourself as well. You are no use to them if you are too tired or sick."

"I'll make sure I rest and eat something." Kakashi reassured Tsunade.

"I'll be close by until Sasuke is awake. It's late at night you should try and get some sleep in his room. I put in a cot for you."

"Thank-you I appreciate it. I'll check in on Sasuke and lay down for a little while."

"If he wakes up call for a nurse so she can check him over with the bruising in his brain. Don't be worried if he doesn't wake up for a good eight or nine hours. His body needs the rest."

"I'll keep an eye on him and hopefully he sleeps the rest of the night away and tomorrow. He's safe now that's all that matters."

"It is. They are both safe. Get some rest Kakashi I will see you in the morning." Tsunade said with a small smile before she headed out of the room.

Kakashi turned his attention to the little baby. He put his hand through the hole once again and placed it gently on her head as he spoke.

"You rest up little one. You have a big life ahead of you. I'll keep you and your daddy safe I promise you."

Kakashi rubbed his thumb along her head before he pulled his hand back and headed out of the room and down the hallways to reach Sasuke's room. He walked in and saw that Sasuke had an oxygen mask on and he was hooked up to two I.V lines to get the nutrients back into him and keep him hydrated. Kakashi saw the cot set up just a little bit away from the bed. Kakashi went over to the bed and placed a hand on Sasuke's right forearm. He just stood there watching Sasuke as he breathed. Kakashi couldn't believe everything that had happened in the last few hours. He couldn't believe that after searching the earth for three years that he had finally found Sasuke. Not just Sasuke, but his daughter and Kakashi's niece. It was blowing his mind right now and he couldn't even begin to imagine how Sasuke was handling it all. Kakashi wasn't going to walk away and leave Sasuke to handle all of this. He was going to be there for Sasuke and the baby and Kakashi was hoping that Sasuke wouldn't have a problem with it. He was hoping that Sasuke would let him help out and they would be able to live together. Kakashi was already making a list of the things he would need to get done before they were released from the hospital. Kakashi knew he would need to talk to Sasuke about it first, but for now he was going to hope that they could live together and be a family.

Kakashi let go of Sasuke's arm and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead before he removed his jacket and went to lay down on the cot. He hadn't been sleeping very much in the past three years and now that Sasuke was safe the exhaustion was hitting him. Kakashi laid down and made sure he was facing Sasuke's bed in case he woke up and Kakashi didn't feel it. He closed his eyes and let the exhaustion take him under.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was ten in the morning and Kakashi was back in the baby's room. He had slept a good seven hours and Sasuke had yet to wake up. Kakashi figured he would come and check in on the little one for a little while. He was pleased to hear from a nurse that she was drinking more formula and her sugar and iron levels were good with the last blood test three hours ago. Kakashi was hoping it would mean that she wouldn't have to be here in the incubator for the whole week. If she was able to keep her body temperatures up then she could be out of the incubator and in a normal bed next to Sasuke.

Kakashi had been here for about forty-five minutes just talking to her. He didn't know her name or even know if Sasuke had one yet, but he knew that talking to her would be good for her. She would get to know his voice and she would hear that she wasn't alone. She had yet to wake up while Kakashi was here, but he knew that babies slept a great deal for a few months until they were older. The nurses weren't worried and very impressed with her so that brought a great deal of comfort to Kakashi. Kakashi had been sitting down in one of the chairs with his hand in the hole once again when the door to the room opened. Kakashi was shocked when he saw Sasuke walk into the room. He was wearing hospital pants and a shirt and it was clear he was in pain, but doing his best to hide it. Kakashi got up as he spoke and went over to Sasuke.

"Sasuke you should not be walking around. You need to be resting." Kakashi said calmly as he guided Sasuke over to one of the empty chairs.

"I had to see her. Is she okay?" Sasuke asked with the hitch in his voice once again as he refused to sit down. He went and looked at her and put his hand through the hole to touch her.

"She is perfectly healthy and that was given to me by Tsunade and Sakura. All of her tests have come back perfectly fine. She had a slight problem with low sugar and iron when she was brought in, but that is cleared up now. She's eating two ounces every two hours." Kakashi said calmly as he kept a supportive hand on Sasuke to help hold him up.

"Why is she in here if she's okay?"

"Her body temperature is low and this is helping to keep her warm. It's just until she gains some weight to help keep her warm. Tsunade doesn't think she'll be here for much longer. She said that she might be able to come out of here tomorrow and then just stay in your room with you. She wants to keep you both for a week just to be safe. You need to sit down Sasuke. You just had surgery."

Kakashi guided Sasuke to sit down in the chair, but Sasuke kept his hand inside the incubator so he could touch his little girl. Kakashi sat down in the other chair and pulled it close to Sasuke so he was close by in case something was wrong.

"How are you feeling Sasuke?" Kakashi asked gently.

"What happens to her now?" Sasuke asked with a slight fear tone to his voice.

"That is entirely up to you Sasuke."

"They aren't taking her away?" Sasuke asked slightly shocked.

"No one is taking her away from you Sasuke. If you want to put her up for adoption that is your decision. But you don't have to give her up. If you want to keep her and raise her that is also your decision and I will support you no matter what." Kakashi said honestly.

"She's the only reason I am alive. I don't ever want to let her go."

"Then you don't have to. How are you feeling though Sasuke? Are you in a lot of pain?" Kakashi asked again to try and find out how Sasuke was feeling.

"All the time. You get used to pain after a while. What surgery?" Sasuke asked with an emptiness to his voice as he kept his eyes on his daughter.

"The cut was very deep and Tsunade had to go in and make repairs. She also removed the uterus that Orochimaru implanted into you. I'm so sorry Sasuke that I didn't find you sooner." Kakashi said with remorse.

"It's not your fault. I can't…I can't talk about this." Sasuke said with a hitch in his voice that was even worse with emotions.

"We don't have to talk about it Sasuke. Whenever you are ready we can. I just want you to know that it doesn't change that I care about you, that I love you like a son. Nothing will ever change that."

Kakashi saw a single tear going down Sasuke's cheek before he spoke.

"Was there DNA done?"

"Tsunade ran it. Do you want to know who the mother was?" Kakashi asked gently.

"It's not him right?" Sasuke asked with fear.

"No Sasuke, it's a female. Despite his experiments Tsunade said that you can't change that law of nature. It was a female."

"Who?"

"My older sister actually."

Sasuke snapped his head to look at Kakashi and Kakashi could see the confusion, worry and fear in Sasuke's eyes. All were understandable to Kakashi and Kakashi knew he would need to explain to Sasuke.

"She died when I was three. She had developed a rare blood disease. Orochimaru was one of her doctors apparently. Before her treatment he had offered to freeze her eggs for a future time if she wanted children as the treatment would destroy her eggs. She agreed and died when I was three, two years after her treatment began. Her eggs went missing about six years ago, but the tech just assumed they had been destroyed because of how long they had been kept. Orochimaru or Kabuto must have stolen them. The rest you know." Kakashi explained gently.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke said softly.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for Sasuke. None of this is your fault and you didn't ask for any of this to happen. I'm sorry that this happened to you. I'm not mad about it Sasuke or at you. I'm here for you no matter what. Do you have a name for her yet?" Kakashi asked hoping to ease Sasuke's fear and worry a bit.

"Aimi."

"Beautiful love and affection. It sounds perfect Sasuke." Kakashi said with a smile.

"There were ten others that I had lost not long into the beginning. One other made it, a boy, but he passed away when I was thirty weeks. I had to cut him out of me. I held him for hours afterwards until he took him away from me. I named him Takehiko." Sasuke said and a few tears came down his cheeks from the memory.

"A hero prince. I'm so sorry Sasuke you had to go through all of this. I'm so sorry you have to go through this pain." Kakashi said with a deep emotion in his voice.

"What if I can't do this? What if I'm too broken to do this? What if I grow to hate her?" Sasuke said with more tears making their way down his cheeks.

"You risked your life to save her Sasuke. You know deep down in your heart that you will never be able to hate her. Look at you Sasuke. You are sitting here after having surgery last night just to be here with her. You faced your fears and killed Orochimaru just to keep her safe from him. You could never hate her. You can do this, I believe in you. You are not broken, you have problems, but that's natural after everything you have been through. You are allowed to not be okay right now. You don't have to do this alone. She will always be yours, but she can also be ours. We can do this together me and you."

"Ours?"

"Yes Sasuke, ours. You don't have to do this alone. I can be there every step of the way to help you raise her, she is my niece and you are like a son to me. I would love to help you raise her and be there for you. The three of us can live together and we can raise her together, if you will let me help you."

"I don't… I don't understand." Sasuke said with confusion all clear in his voice.

"What don't you understand Sasuke?" Kakashi asked gently.

"Why would you want to help me? After what you know, how can you still care?" Sasuke asked with confusion and hurt in his voice.

"Sasuke listen to me, there is nothing that you could have been through or been forced to do that would change how much I care about you. I don't think less of you, I never could. You are like a son to me I will always care about you. I will always love you and be there for you. I'm not going to stand by and let you do this on your own. I'm here for you both Sasuke, none of this changes that." Kakashi said seriously with as much honest emotion he could put into his voice.

"Am I dreaming?" Sasuke said sounding unsure.

"No this is real. You are free from him. You're safe son." Kakashi said with hurt in his voice.

"They'll try to find me. I killed him. Kabuto won't stop." Sasuke said with fear.

"I will protect you from them. I will protect you both. Sasuke I have been searching this world for you for the past three years. That is all I have done, I am not about to lose you or this little one now. I will protect you." Kakashi said with strength in his voice.

"I can really stay with her? I don't have to leave or lose her?" Sasuke asked as he looked at Kakashi to try and see if there were any lies in his eyes. Kakashi could see the small hope in Sasuke's eyes.

"You never have to go anywhere. No one is going to take her from you son. I give you my word on that." Kakashi said with complete seriousness to his voice.

"You really want us to live together?"

"I really do. I can be there to help you with her. To help you heal and recover from everything that happened to you. I really want to be there for you both and see her grow up. If that is something you want as well."

Sasuke just gave a shaky nod and a few more tears made their way down his cheeks. Kakashi moved his hand to gently wipe the tears away and Sasuke instantly flinched away from the touch with fear in his eyes. Sasuke closed his eyes and looked down in shame as he spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay it's not your fault. It's going to take time for your body to stop reacting in fear to everything. You know I would never hurt you Sasuke." Kakashi said in a serious voice.

"I know that. I do."

"It's okay it's going to take some time. I know you probably won't, but why don't you go back to your room and get some rest. I can come with you and sit there while you sleep."

"I don't want to leave her."

"You must be in pain though Sasuke. You're body is exhausted." Kakashi tried.

"I'm used to it." Sasuke said sadly.

"What if I had a cot in here, would you lay down in here?" Kakashi offered.

"You won't make me leave her?" Sasuke asked with a slight fear in his voice.

"I'm never going to make you leave her I promise you. I know you don't want to leave her, that you feel better knowing you can see her and that she is okay. Would you be willing to lay down here and get some rest where you can feel her and know she is okay?"

Sasuke gave a shaky nod as he spoke, "Ok."

"Alright, are you okay if I leave and get a cot brought in here? I can also talk to Tsunade about finding us a place to live, all three of us."

"I'm fine. My apartment? Is it still there?"

"It is, everything is just as how you left it."

"She needs clothes and things for a room. Sakura knows where my wallet is and my code. Maybe she would be willing to go and get her some clothes to help keep her warm?" Sasuke asked gently clearly unsure of having someone's help.

"She would love to. I'll speak with her, the others might be here as well. I know they were all worried about you and by now they will all know. What do you want to do about the DNA? Do you want them to know who the mother is and what happened? It's completely up to you I will follow your lead on it."

"I don't want them knowing how. I'm not ready for that. It doesn't bother me if they know who the mother was. Just not the other part please." Sasuke said with hurt in his voice.

"That's okay they don't have to know. Only you, me and Tsunade know that part and that's how it can stay for as long as you wish. I'm going to go out there and find you a cot and Sakura. I'll be right back okay?"

"I can't hold her right?"

"Not yet she has to stay in there as far as I know. I'll ask Tsunade about how that works."

"Thank-you."

"I'll be back shortly Tsunade will probably want to come in and check in on you and how you are healing."

Sasuke just gave a nod to that and Kakashi knew that was something that was making him uncomfortable and Kakashi couldn't blame him for that. Kakashi headed out of the room and down to where the nurses' station was. There was a nurse sitting at the desk and Kakashi went over there.

"How can I help you Mr. Hatake?" The nurse asked with a smile once she saw Kakashi stopping at the desk.

"Uchiha Sasuke is in the room with the little one. I know he is supposed to be resting, but he is refusing to leave her side. I didn't know if it was possible to have a cot in the room so he could rest without having to leave her?" Kakashi asked.

"We can do that for him. It's not something we tend to do, but given the circumstances we can do that for him. I'll have someone bring one into the room within the next thirty minutes. How is he doing?"

"He's in pain and exhausted, so to be expected. He's not ready to leave her side just yet."

"That's completely understandable. After everything he has been through and having a newborn daughter in the end of it all. I would be shocked if he did leave her side to rest. I'll have a cot brought in so he can sleep while she sleeps."

"Thank-you very much for being so understanding."

"It's an unusual situation that I wish no one ever has to go through again. Do you know if the mother made it?" The nurse asked with concern.

"She didn't. Sasuke was able to save the baby and kill Orochimaru before we arrived. The mother was long dead."

"That's so sad. The poor boy and that sweet little baby to be born in the middle of all that violence and pain. Well they are both safe now that is the important thing and they can both heal from it. It's very sweet of you to standby Sasuke in all of this. A lesser man would have walked away a long time ago."

"I love him like a son, there is no walking away from that. Do you know where Tsunade is?"

"She is in the waiting room. A large group of ninja have come to see Sasuke and get an update on him."

"Thank-you."

"You are most welcome."

Kakashi headed down the hallways until he reached the waiting room. Sure enough everyone was in there including Iruka. Tsunade seemed to be updating them on Sasuke's condition if their angry and hurt faces were anything to go by. Kakashi walked into the room and closed the door behind him. All eyes turned to him as he entered.

"Kakashi-Sensei, how is Sasuke? Did you see him?" Naruto asked with worry.

"Sasuke is awake and in a lot more pain than he is letting on. He's in the little one's room. He's refusing to leave the room so the nurse said she would have a cot brought in there for him. I hope that is alright."

"It's fine. I was going to suggest the same if I couldn't get him to stay in bed. How long ago did he wake?"

"Less than an hour ago. I told him that you would be by to check on him. He's also wondering when he can hold her."

"Of course. I am sure he had a lot of questions about her." Tsunade said in understanding.

"He did, but I reassured him that she was fine. He didn't like her being in the incubator."

"Most parents don't, it makes the baby look sicker than they could be. I'll speak with him about her and make sure he understands that she is fine it's just a precaution with her body temperature. He can hold her while she is feeding and for fifteen minutes at a time every couple of hours. I need to make sure she can hold her own body temperature before I can have her out of there and in a room with him."

"Being able to hold her even for fifteen minutes at a time is going to be a relief to him." Kakashi said as he sat down.

"How are you doing?" Asuma asked as he could see the exhaustion and hurt in Kakashi's eyes. He had also lost thirty pounds from traveling so much in the past three years.

"They are both safe and on the road to recovery so I am fine." Kakashi answered.

"So Sasuke has a baby girl. Who is the mom?" Kiba asked.

"It's a complicated story. The one that everyone will know if asked about is that the mother died after giving birth to the baby. Sasuke killed Orochimaru to protect the baby. That last part is the truth. That is what the public will know." Kakashi started.

"And what is the truth?" Shikamaru asked calmly.

"A woman, Sasuke doesn't know who, was a surrogate that Orochimaru used. The father is Sasuke and the mother was my older sister who had died over twenty years ago. And before you ask how that is possible, my sister was sick with a rare blood disease. Orochimaru was one of her doctors at the time and suggested that she freeze some of her eggs as the treatment would make her sterile. She did and when I was three she died. Six years ago her eggs went missing, but the tech thought they were destroyed because of how long they were kept. The surrogate was killed and Sasuke got the baby from Orochimaru in his room. During the struggle he was cut across his stomach before he was able to get the baby back from Orochimaru and killed him." Kakashi had lied and Tsunade knew that, but she wasn't going to be putting Sasuke's personal information out there for everyone. It was a believable story and it fit with the injuries.

"That's crazy." Kiba said.

"What is going to happen to her now?" Ino asked sadly.

"Sasuke and I are going to live together and raise her." Kakashi answered.

"I don't want to sound like a horrible person, but is Sasuke even stable enough to handle a child? He spent three years being tortured and what I can only assume raped in some way to get his sperm for the surrogate. Is it truly wise to let Sasuke anywhere near her? He could hate her and try to hurt her just from what she represents." Iruka said calmly.

"Sasuke has problems after what happened, but that doesn't mean he is dangerous to her. He pushed through all of his fear just to protect her from Orochimaru. He's sitting there in her room refusing to lay down because he needs to see her. I would be shocked if he leaves her side for a very long time. He's not going to hurt her. I gave him my word that no one would take her away from him and I am not about to break that." Kakashi said with strength in his voice.

"It's just going to be a lot to handle for him Kakashi and for yourself. You have been running yourself into the ground just to try and find him. Now you want to take on a little baby. I know she is your niece, but still it's a lot on you and you will have to deal with Sasuke's problems. It's a lot to handle for one person." Iruka said with concern.

"I can handle it. I'm not abandoning either of them." Kakashi said with a slight anger in his voice.

"And they are not alone. I'll be there to help out." Sakura said.

"Me too." Naruto said.

"I think I can speak for all of us when I say we all will be there for them. You don't walk away from someone just because they are having problems. We can all be there to help." Shikamaru said.

"You'll need a three bedroom house." Asuma said.

"I can find you one within the week." Tsunade said.

"Thank-you. Sasuke's apartment and my house are still full, we need to empty them out." Kakashi said.

"Once you have a house we can move you for you. Don't worry about that." Asuma said.

"We can get boxes and pack up both places too. You just worry about Sasuke and that baby." Gai said.

"She'll need things for her room and to wear." Ino said.

"Sakura, Sasuke said that you knew where his wallet is. He thought you could pick up that stuff and bring by some clothes for her to help keep her warm." Kakashi said.

"I can do that. I also know what size Sasuke is roughly from his scrubs so I can get him some things. Might make him feel better if he was in some sweats and a t-shirt of his own then the hospital ones." Sakura said.

"How do you know where his wallet is? And how are you going to get the money?" Naruto asked confused.

"After Sasuke got the curse seal he was worried that Orochimaru would try and take him. It got worse after he tried in the final round. When his family died all of the Clan's money and their personal money went to him. He told me where he keeps his wallet and his bank card code so if he died I could have access to the money." Sakura explained.

"Why would he want you to have his money?" Ino asked now seriously interested.

"He wanted me to take the money and donate it to good causes. He didn't want all of that fortune to go to waste just sitting there in a bank account. He knew that he could trust me that I would donate it all and not keep it for myself." Sakura explained further.

"That makes sense. Sasuke is the only survivor, it makes perfect sense that he wouldn't want the money to go to waste when he could do something with it." Tenten said.

"I'll come with you to do the shopping for the little one. It sounds like fun." Ino said with a smile.

"I'll get some boxes together and start packing up Sasuke's place." Naruto said.

"I'll help you with that." Kiba said.

"I will as well." Shikamaru said.

"I'll go to your place Kakashi and work on yours. Is there anything you need between now and a week from now?" Asuma asked.

"Just some clothes." Kakashi answered.

"I'll help." Neji offered.

"Me as well." Gai said.

"Are you sure about this Kakashi?" Iruka asked one last time.

"I am."

"Then I will support you and help pack up your house. I'm assuming you are not about to leave here." Iruka said.

"Not yet."

"I'll come by with a change of clothes and some food. Is there anything that Sasuke shouldn't be eating?" Iruka asked Tsunade.

"With his injuries and the malnourishment he needs to start off slow. Soup would be good for him to have." Tsunade answered.

"I'll bring some by for him." Iruka said.

"What about the Sound? Orochimaru is dead, but Kabuto and the rest of the Sound is still alive. Do we know if the Sound Four are dead as well?" Neji asked.

"As far as I know they are all still alive. Sasuke is terrified that Kabuto is going to come after him." Kakashi answered.

"I am going to have a couple of ANBU squads leave tonight to search the underground location you were at as well as spread out to find all of the Sound ninjas and eliminate them. I am not going to take a chance with this." Tsunade said.

"I'd like to go with them." Naruto said.

"I am sure you would, but I want you here in the village for a little while. The village could still be attacked by the Sound. Until we know that Kabuto is dead and the threat is gone I want you here. Sasuke needs you here." Tsunade said back.

"Is Sasuke safe here in the hospital? If the Sound is looking for him won't they check here first?" Lee asked.

"I have a squad of ANBU stationed around the hospital as a precaution. I am doing everything I can to ensure Sasuke's safety." Tsunade said.

"When can Sasuke and the baby go home?" Naruto asked.

"In a week I will see if Sasuke and the baby is healthy enough to leave. I'm confident that they will be able to leave in a week. I'll be keeping a close eye on the both of them once they do leave. They will need to be back in here once a week for a checkup. The baby is six weeks early and she is fine right now, but something could come up and if that is the case I want to catch it early than too late."

"But that won't happen right? I mean she's fine." Kiba said worried about the baby.

"She is fine and healthy. She is only four pounds, one ounce and realistically she will go down a couple of ounces before she begins to gain weight. That is normal with all babies. Because of her weight she is having a harder time keeping her body temperature up in a level that I am comfortable with. Tomorrow she will probably be able to be out of the incubator and kept warm with clothes and blankets."

"That will help Sasuke rest more. He doesn't want to leave her side right now. Once she is out of the incubator then he can be back in his room with the little one with him." Kakashi said.

"What's her name?" Shikamaru asked.

"He named her Aimi." Kakashi answered.

"A beautiful love and affection. From what I remember of your sister that is a very fitting name." Tsunade said with a warm smile to Kakashi.

"It is." Kakashi easily agreed.

"Well if there is nothing else left to be said I think we should get going and start working on the two homes and packing everything up." Asuma said.

"Ya we should do that." Kiba said.

"I'll go and get Sasuke's card and pick up what Aimi needs. I'll bring by some clothes for her too." Sakura said.

"I'll come with you." Ino said with a smile.

"Everyone be safe. We don't know if the Sound is already on the way here or if they have any allies in this area. Be smart until we have eliminated the threat." Tsunade said.

"We'll be careful Hokage-Sama." Neji said on behalf of everyone.

"I'll come back with a change of clothes and some food for you both." Iruka said.

"Thank-you." Kakashi said.

"I'll come and check in on Sasuke and Aimi with you. She'll need to be fed again and I can show Sasuke how to do that properly. I'm assuming he's never been around infants before or small children." Tsunade said.

"I don't think so. He was the last born within the Clan. I've never been around infants either it's new for the both of us."

"Then I'll teach you both. Afterwards he needs rest and some food. He also needs to make sure he is drinking lots of water with no longer being hooked up to the ."

"I'll make sure he does." Kakashi said.

"We'll get out of here and let you take care of Sasuke and Aimi. If you need any help just let us know. I'll come by tomorrow to check in." Asuma said.

"Thank-you I appreciate it."

"Sasuke is our friend. We'll be there to help him through all of this. Having Aimi doesn't change that." Naruto said.

"Ya we can totally help him out with her. She's going to be a lot of work and he'll need all the support he can get." Ino said.

"Give Sasuke our best and we'll come by to see him throughout the week. We'll make sure we all don't come at the same time." Shikamaru said.

"Please don't. He won't be able to handle a crowd for a little while." Kakashi said.

"We know. We'll make sure we come in different times and we won't stay long. Just long enough for him to know that we are there for him." Neji said.

"I'll see you soon Kakashi." Iruka said as he got up.

Kakashi gave a nod and he got up himself as did the others. They all headed out so they could all get the homes packed up and the shopping done. Kakashi and Tsunade headed back to Aimi's room where they would find Sasuke. They walked into the room and saw that Sasuke was sitting in the chair with his hand still through the one hole holding Aimi's hand. There was a cot in the room now with a pillow and blanket. Sasuke turned his head when he heard the door open. Tsunade spoke as she closed the door.

"Hello Sasuke, how are you feeling?"

Kakashi went over to the empty chair and sat back down as Sasuke spoke.

"How long does she need to be in this thing for?" Sasuke asked with concern.

Tsunade smiled at Sasuke as she knew he was going to be more interested in Aimi then his own health.

"At least for the rest of the day. I need to make sure her body temperature stays in a good range. I think tomorrow morning she will be ok to be in a bassinet by your bed with her being dressed and wrapped in a blanket. I know it's scary to see her in the incubator, but she is healthy, especially for being six weeks early. Your health is more concerning to me Sasuke. I need to know how you are feeling." Tsunade said calmly.

"Fine."

"I know that has been abused into, but you are not feeling fine Sasuke. It's okay to not be fine. You can tell me how you truly feel I'm not going to judge you or hurt you for it." Tsunade said calmly once again.

"It's okay Son." Kakashi said gently to Sasuke as he could see the hesitation and fear in his eyes.

Sasuke let out a shaky breath before he spoke. "Everything hurts."

"I had to operate on your lower abdomen and I removed the uterus. I did the best that I could, but there will be a faint scar along your lower stomach from the surgery and the cut that you made. You will notice that your stomach hurts from the surgery and your organs are going back into their original place. The pregnancy pushed your organs around to make room for the baby and her growth. Now with that being gone they will go back to their original place and that can be slightly painful at times. Within two months your organs will be back to normal and that pain will go away. Do you have any questions about that part?" Tsunade asked taking this slow.

Sasuke just shook his head no.

"Ok, you had broken ribs that I was able to repair and heal. You might experience a slight discomfort with them as they are still bruised. Your body will hurt from your bones not being fully healthy. You are dehydrated and malnourished and that will cause you some pain throughout your body as they are healing. Once you start eating often and drinking enough water they will heal and grow stronger and the pain will go away. You also have some bruising all over your body and within your brain. It is nothing to be worried about. You will experience at times where you are dizzy, more tired, feeling light headed and you will get headaches. You may also notice a problem with your memory both long and short term until the bruising has faded and your brain is healthy once again. They will fade and it is going to be more annoying than anything. There will be days where you just don't feel well and might not even be able to get up out of bed. I don't want you to worry it's nothing serious and it will go away once the bruising is healed."

"The most important thing for you to do Sasuke is just rest and drink lots of water and start eating again." Kakashi said.

Sasuke just gave a nod and they could tell this was a lot for him to take in.

"I know you don't want to leave her, but I need you to lay down on the cot so I can check your stitches and make sure everything is healing properly. You don't have to leave the room and afterwards I can show you how to feed her and hold to hold her."

"I can hold her?" Sasuke asked as he looked at Tsunade for the first time and she saw the hope in his eyes.

"Yes you can hold her. I just need to check you out first. You are in far worse condition than Aimi is." Tsunade said with a warm smile.

"It's okay I'll be right here." Kakashi said to Sasuke to comfort him.

Sasuke slowly moved his hand back and out of the incubator. He got up and Kakashi held onto his forearm to help him stand up. He was stiff and in pain from the abuse of the past three years. Kakashi got Sasuke over to the cot and helped him to lay down on his back. Kakashi stepped back slightly to allow Tsunade to come over to Sasuke. She spoke as she bent down so she could be by Sasuke.

"I just need to lift your shirt up slightly to check your stitches."

Sasuke gave a small nod and Tsunade pulled up his shirt and saw the stitches. They were red, but she expected that from the movement of Sasuke so soon.

"They are a little irritated from you moving around so soon. I'm just going to try and heal them slightly to help with it." Tsunade as she went and hoovered her hand over Sasuke's stomach.

She worked quickly, because she knew Sasuke wasn't comfortable with this and that he was only doing this so he could hold Aimi. After a few minutes Tsunade was able to help with the redness and help heal the stitches along. She also made sure that nothing was wrong internally with Sasuke. She spoke as she put Sasuke's shirt back down.

"They are healing nicely. You just need rest to help your body the rest of the way. Now I will be right back I just need to get you some formula for Aimi." Tsunade said with a smile.

She headed for the door and Kakashi went over to Sasuke and helped him to sit up. Once he was sitting up he helped get Sasuke standing and over to the chair again. Sasuke was shaking slightly from the pain and exhaustion in his body, but Kakashi knew he wasn't going to miss the chance to hold Aimi.

"I told the others about the DNA, but the story is that a surrogate was used and she was killed right after giving birth. You found Orochimaru with Aimi and grabbed a knife and got her away from him and killed him. The cut happened during the fight. Tsunade is looking for a three bedroom for us and the others are going to pack up our homes and move us into the new one so we don't have to worry about any of that. Sakura and Ino are going to get you everything you need for this little one. Sakura said she would bring some clothes and blankets by afterwards. She also said she would pick you up some clothes for yourself as well."

"They are really going to help?" Sasuke asked surprised.

"They are. They are all worried about you both and said they would be coming by within the week to check in on your both and see Aimi. They were all very supportive of your decision to keep her. They all said they would help you in any way they can."

"Why?" Sasuke asked confused.

"Because they care about you. I know it's hard to understand right now, but it's true. We are all here for you and we will figure this out. This is new to me as well so we are on the same page with Aimi. We'll figure it out though I promise."

The door opened and Tsunade came back into the room. She closed the door behind her and placed the two packages onto the small table in the room. She opened the one box as she spoke.

"Ok you two, this box holds the formula it already comes in small bottles. We have this here in the hospital, but when you go home the formula will be in either liquid form in a can or in a tall can as a powder. I always recommend the liquid for infants that are small because it helps them gain weight faster. It is more expensive, but once she is in a healthier weight range than you can do the powder version. Both will come with instructions on the amount you put into the bottle and both have to be mixed with water. The liquid is just thicker so there is more fat to it to help the baby gain weight." Tsunade started to explain as she normally does with first time parents.

"And we should stick to the same formula right?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes I highly recommend that you do. Now there are different formulas for different needs. Some babies are lacto intolerant and they need a special formula. With Aimi we haven't had any problems with this formula so I would recommend that you buy this brand as her system will be used to it. Now this formula is prepared differently because it is for hospital use. Each small bottle has only two ounces in it and it is already prepared. You just remove the cap and then open the nipple package and screw it onto the bottle. Once the bottle is open then it is only good for two hours before you need to use a new one." Tsunade explained as she opened the bottle and got it ready. She placed the bottle down on the table and went over to Aimi and began to get her out of the incubator.

"Now, she should be eating every two hours. She might eat all of the two ounces at times and at other times she might only eat an ounce. That's okay don't worry about it too much. Often with newborns and premature babies they tend to fall asleep while eating. The sucking motion soothes them and they forget to eat and just fall asleep. You want to try and wake her up to get her back into eating, but you might not be able to given how little she is and the amount of sleep she needs. You can take her out every two hours and feed her. She can stay out for about fifteen to twenty minutes at a time every two hours. So you can hold her for no more than twenty minutes every two hours. When she is holding steady with her body temperature then you can hold her as long as you want, but you also need to be resting as well." Tsunade said as she picked up Aimi and she let out a little cry.

"You want to hold her just like this. So put your left arm up and I am going to place her into your arms Sasuke." Tsunade said as she bent down to give Sasuke the baby. Sasuke held his arms just like Tsunade and Tsunade placed Aimi into his arms and she placed her hand on Sasuke's left elbow lifting it up slightly to make sure it was in the right place. "You need to support her head just like that. She doesn't have the strength to hold up her head so you will need to hold it up properly for her while you hold her and feed her. Also you will notice the top of her head see how there is a small divot in the middle of her head. That is called the soft spot in simple terms. It is there because infants their skull is not fully connected when they are born. Hers is slightly larger than most because of her being premature. It's nothing you need to worry about, but you do need to be careful she doesn't get hurt right there. Without the bones fully connected it can cause her serious damage and even death if she takes a serious injury to that place. You will also notice that if she is dehydrated it will be more sunk in. Most parents will have a hat on their head to just keep the heat in for one and two to help give some form of protection until the skull is completely connected and formed." Tsunade said.

"Is it just that spot on her head that we need to be careful of?" Kakashi asked.

"In general you need to be careful of any injuries to her head. The skull is not as hard as ours is. It will happen as she ages. The skull right now is soft and can actually change it's shape. It happens often when parents lay their baby down on their right side every night. The skull will become flat on that side. It's important to have the baby sleep on her back and on both sides. The best way to do that is to rotate it from one week to the next so her skull doesn't become flat on one side or the back of her head. You can prop her up on either side with a rolled up blanket or towel behind her so she doesn't fall over. You want her to never be sleeping on her stomach that is how she could accidently suffocate. You also don't want any stuffed animals in the bed or blankets by her face. It's just a precaution, but a good one to have." Tsunade answered as she picked up the bottle and handed it to Sasuke. Sasuke took it with his right hand and Tsunade spoke again.

"Now sometimes you might notice that she doesn't open her mouth right away. You might have to move the nipple around on her lips to get her to open it slightly. When she is really hungry she will open her mouth and she will once she gets used to the feeding schedule. You want to sit her up just slightly." Tsunade said as she lifted Sasuke's left elbow again so Aimi was sitting up slightly and not lying flat. "It's better if she is sitting up slightly for her to digest and it will help with gas as well. Try and see if she will take the bottle."

Sasuke moved the bottle over to Aimi's mouth and he moved it gently against her lips to get her to open her mouth. She did and Sasuke put the bottle into her mouth and Aimi began to drink.

"Good job Sasuke. Now you want to tip the bottle slightly like this." Tsunade said as she tipped the bottle up slightly as she spoke. "It will help her to take in less air and that will help with her gas. If a baby gets too much gas and can't burp it up that is when they develop colic and that makes them cry constantly and not be able to sleep and eat properly. It is something you want to avoid and the best way to do that is to limit the air she sucks in. So as she drinks you want to make sure you keep tilting the bottle up so she doesn't get any air into her. You also want to burp her after every ounce while she is this young. As she gets older you can push that back by an ounce as her body will be better adjusted to burping and be able to get it up herself without much help. Do either of you have any questions for me?"

"Is it safe for her to be sleeping in a crib with her size?" Kakashi asked.

"It is. Now there are bumper pads you can buy that go around the inside of the crib to protect the baby from the railings. Everyone has an opinion on them. Some find them to be too dangerous and others don't see the danger with them. I always tell parents it is up to them, but I would recommend that right now while she isn't moving that you don't need the bumper pads, but once she is able to roll around to have them put on so she doesn't have an arm or a leg go through the bars and potentially hurt herself. Once she is able to roll around then she can roll away from something in her face. That is the concern with bumper pads being used with infants that if they roll into them they won't be able to roll their body away from the pads and suffocate."

"Do we feed her every two hours even if she doesn't wake up for it?" Sasuke asked as he kept his eyes on Aimi and watched her eat.

"Right now until she is bigger I would. If she was born seven or eight pounds I wouldn't be concerned with her skipping a feeding, but with her size even an ounce will help her. She will go through grow spurts it's usually comes in three periods, so three weeks, six weeks, nine weeks, etcetera. She will be eating more and more and at times she could be eating every hour."

Sasuke saw that half of the bottle was gone so he slowly pulled it out of Aimi's mouth and Tsunade spoke.

"Ok to burp her at this size you need to sit her on your leg and place your right hand under her chin to help her hold her head up. Then use your left hand and gently pat her back or even rub her back in an upward motion to get the burp out. When she is a little bigger you can have her on your shoulder and burp her that way. A good indication that she has a burp in there is crying or she will curl her legs up to her stomach from the discomfort in her stomach."

Sasuke did as Tsunade said and he began to gently pat Aimi's back. He could see her wiggling around and Sasuke figured it was from the gas. After a moment she gave a small burp and she stopped wiggling. Sasuke did it just a little more just in case and she gave another burp before she closed her eyes.

"Do I give her more?" Sasuke asked.

"You can try and see if she will take it. She is eating an ounce to an ounce and a half each time according to the nurses." Tsunade said.

Sasuke put her back into his arms and tried to see if she would take any more. Aimi opened her mouth again and Sasuke continued to feed her.

"What about bathing her and changing her?" Kakashi asked as he had no idea how to do any of that.

"Before you both leave I will have taught you how to change her and bath her. I will make sure you are both ready for this. I do it with every first time parents. It's not as hard as it may seem right now. This is all new to the both of you and once you get used to a routine then it will be incredibly easy. Within two weeks you both will have a routine down and it will be like you've been doing this forever."

"And you said they need to come back once a week for a checkup." Kakashi said.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked with fear in his eyes.

"No nothing is wrong and I want to keep it that way. It's routine to have a baby in once a week after they are born. With Aimi she is six weeks premature so I want her coming in once a week for a few months to just keep an eye on things. I don't expect her to have any problems. I also want you in to check you out and see how your body is healing after the last three years. It's all routine and a precaution. Do either of you have any questions for me right now?"

"No I think I'm good. If something comes up we can always ask you or a nurse." Kakashi said.

"I don't have any." Sasuke said.

"I'm going to go and check in with my other patients. If you have any questions or concerns just have a nurse come in or come and get me. Sasuke once Aimi is done eating you can hold her for another ten minutes but then you have to set her back in. I want you to rest while she is resting as well. If you don't start sleeping and healing then I can't let you leave in a week. Do you understand?"

Sasuke gave a nod and Tsunade knew that Kakashi would make sure that Sasuke got enough rest.

"I'll leave you both to it then. Make sure you both eat and Sasuke you can eat simple food like soup at first and then work back up to normal food."

"Iruka is going to bring some soup and food by for us." Kakashi said to Sasuke.

Sasuke gave a nod and kept his eyes on Aimi. Tsunade gave Kakashi a small smile before she headed out of the room. Kakashi sat there and watched as Sasuke finished feeding Aimi and then began to burp her once again. Once she was burped he held her in his arms close to his chest.

"She's so small." Sasuke said softly.

"She'll get bigger before you know it." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to. I know you have your own life and this will change it."

"It will change it, but it will change it for the better. There is nothing I am more sure of then having you and this beautiful little girl live with me. I can't wait to get home and get her room all set up. I want to watch her grow up and start walking and talking. I'm not going anywhere and I couldn't imagine doing anything else but being there for her and you." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Ours." Sasuke softly said.

"Ours Son." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Do you… do you want to hold her?" Sasuke asked and Kakashi could hear the fear in his voice. He really didn't want to give her up to someone, but he was also reaching out to Kakashi and offering him the chance to be there for her as well. Kakashi gave Sasuke a warm smile before he spoke.

"In a minute. When it's time to put her back in I'll hold her. You need her in your arms a lot more than I do right now. You must have been so terrified all of the time. You are very brave and strong Son. I couldn't be prouder of you."

"I thought of you. I knew that one day you would find me. Every second was hell with him. Every second that she was in me I was terrified that I would have to hold her while she died just like Takehiko. I knew I couldn't do it again. I kept thinking about what you would do if you were there. I knew you wouldn't give up. That you would keep fighting until your last breath. So when the pain got too much I knew I had to get her out and he came in seconds later. He tried to take her and I thought of you and that this was my only chance, her only chance. Once he was dead you were the only thought going through my mind. I knew I had to leave and just get back to you. I think when you finally did come through that door I was in shock and part of me thought it was a trick. It still doesn't feel real. I still feel like I should be running. Is that ever going to go away?" Sasuke asked as he looked at Kakashi like he had all of the answers to ease his fears and pain.

"It will go away. You have been in survival mode for three years. It's not something that can just be turn off once you are safe. Your mind is still trying to catch up to everything that has happened and with the bruising on your brain it might take a little longer than normal. But it will stop and you will begin to accept that you are safe and this is your life now. I will be here every step of the way. There is nothing you could tell me or go through that would make me love you any less or leave you. You'll be okay, you both will be. You can always talk to me Sasuke, no matter what time of the day or night it is. I will always have time for you. I love you Son."

"I love you Dad." Sasuke said softly back.

Kakashi smiled at Sasuke and hearing the one word he never thought he would ever hear. It sounded amazing to hear it coming from Sasuke and Kakashi was looking forward to hearing from him over and over again as he was looking forward to hearing uncle from Aimi.

"I know you don't want to do this just yet, but she needs to go back in. She needs to stay warm so she can be in a normal bassinet. It's one step closer to being able to leave and go home." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Ok." Sasuke said reluctantly.

Kakashi got up and he carefully took Aimi from Sasuke's arms. Kakashi looked down at Aimi as he held her. He couldn't believe how light she felt. It felt like he was holding air. After a moment Kakashi went and placed her into the incubator and closed the side up so she would be safe. He then turned to face Sasuke and gave him a warm smile.

"You need rest. She is going to be asleep for two hours. You can sleep for two hours while I sit here and keep her safe. I'll wake you up when it is time for another feeding."

"She's ok?" Sasuke asked with worry.

"She is sleeping soundly. She's perfectly fine. I promise you if something happens I will wake you up. You are not going to be very good for her if you don't rest and heal yourself. She needs you healthy. She's perfectly safe and fine." Kakashi said with understanding to his voice.

Sasuke let out a shaky breath before he spoke.

"Sleeps not very easy for me anymore."

"I know there are a lot of memories and nightmares going through your mind. I know there will be normal things that you have to get used to again and that's okay. You are safe here though Sasuke. I will protect you, the both of you. Your body is screaming for sleep. Until you have caught up on your sleep I would be shocked if you dreamt at all. Just try and sleep and if you can't then it's okay."

Sasuke gave a shaky nod and Kakashi gave him a warm smile. Kakashi gently helped Sasuke to stand up and walk over to the cot once again. He helped Sasuke to lay down and then he covered Sasuke up with the blanket. Kakashi said down in the chair and he slowly ran his hand through Sasuke's hair. It didn't take long before the exhaustion kicked in and Sasuke was fast asleep. Kakashi continued to run his hand through Sasuke's hair for a little while longer before he stopped and just sat there keeping watch over Sasuke and Aimi, his family.


	2. Chapter 2

_**It's a shorter chapter than my normal posts tend to be, but it's got a lot of great moments in it. I ended it here because it worked for what the next chapter would be. Otherwise this would have been over 25,000 words so I divided it up into two chapters. Enjoy.**_

 _ **Warnings: Mentions of past child death, but nothing crazy I could never do that. And like always I added a twist to Sasuke's past. I just can't help myself.**_

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Chapter 2

It had been a week since Sasuke and Aimi had been rescued and brought to the hospital. After that first day Aimi was allowed to be out of the incubator as long as she was dressed in a warm sleeper and was wrapped up in a blanket. They had been in Sasuke's room for the last six days with Kakashi staying in there on a cot. Kakashi was not going to be leaving the hospital until they were. He had spent the last week with Sasuke and Aimi in the hospital and trying to get Sasuke to sleep and rest while Aimi was sleeping. It took a bit of work, but he was able to get Sasuke to sleep most of the time and only a few times staying awake to hold Aimi. Sasuke had suffered a few headaches throughout the week and a couple of dizzy spells that only lasted a few minutes. His short term memory seemed to be taking the most from the bruising. Sasuke asked multiple times a day what day it was or what time it was. He always remember things about Aimi, when she had been fed or changed last. That brought comfort to Kakashi as he wouldn't have to worry too much about Sasuke forgetting to feed her or change her. There were a few times when Sasuke didn't remember something that had happened before his time in the Sound. If Sasuke was worried about it he didn't show it. Kakashi knew that it would get better once the bruising healed. He still had a hitch to his voice and his hands shook slightly, but his injuries were healing nicely and with time Sasuke would be completely healed.

Today they were both allowed to leave. Sasuke had gotten dressed in black sweat pants and a black long sleeved shirt with his shoes on. They had gotten their discharge papers and now that everyone was dressed and warm enough Kakashi picked up the bag for Aimi and together they slowly made their way out of the hospital and towards their new home. Sasuke was carrying Aimi in his arms and Kakashi made sure he walked slowly so Sasuke wouldn't hurt himself. He was still in a good amount of pain and he didn't want Sasuke to push himself. As they walked by people the villagers smiled and were friendly towards Sasuke as they passed by. Kakashi was relieved as he didn't know how people were going to react to Sasuke being back and with a baby. He was captured in the middle of the night so it wasn't like he had left willingly for Orochimaru.

They finally arrived at the house which was on the outskirts something that both Kakashi and Sasuke were thankful for. They wouldn't have to worry about Aimi crying in the middle of the night or people coming by all the time. It was a nice looking house and it had a good amount of land with it so they could have a nice backyard for Aimi.

"Home sweet home." Kakashi said with a warm smile to Sasuke

"Are you sure you don't want to change your mind?" Sasuke said with a hitch still in his voice.

"I never will Son." Kakashi said back with a smile.

Sasuke gave a small smile and Kakashi gently placed his hand on the small of Sasuke's back and guided him up the couple of steps. Kakashi used his key to unlock the door and open the door. They walked in and were shocked to see everyone there in the living room. There was a Welcome Home banner hanging on the wall and there were gift bags and a bassinet sitting on the coffee table with gifts inside of it. They were both surprised by seeing everyone here and at the gifts. Everyone was smiling and Sakura was the first one to speak.

"Welcome home."

"Thank-you. This was unexpected." Kakashi said with a smile as he closed the door.

"We know, but we wanted to welcome Sasuke and Aimi to their new house. Plus we missed out on a baby shower so we couldn't resist." Ino said with a smile.

"Ya Sasuke is the first one to add to the family and we need to welcome her right." Kiba added.

"Thank-you for all of this. I expected to be doing this all on my own." Sasuke said amazed that they were so supportive of him.

"You should know better than that Sasuke. We're all family and this is what you do for family. Now come and sit down so I can see my niece." Naruto said with a smile as he patted the empty spot on the couch.

Sasuke gave a small smile and he went over to the couch slowly with his body still healing and he sat down on the couch. Sakura went and sat down on the other side of the couch so she could see Aimi.

"Man she is so little." Naruto said as she looked at Aimi.

"She'll get bigger before any of us know it. We'll be gone for a mission and come back and she'll be crawling all over the place." Sakura said with a smile.

Kakashi went and placed the diaper bag down on the kitchen island counter top and went over to where Iruka, Gai and Asuma were standing.

"Thank-you for all of your help. I really appreciate it. I owe you three."

"Nonsense my dear friend. You would have done the same for us." Gai said.

"Any time." Kakashi agreed easily.

"How is he doing?" Asuma whispered.

"He's sore and having some issues with the bruising on his brain. He'll be fine, but I don't want to leave him alone for too long. He gets dizzy spells out of nowhere and if he's alone and with Aimi I don't want him to fall with her."

"No of course not. It's too dangerous until he is feeling better." Iruka agreed.

"I spoke to Tsunade about it and she knows I want some time off. I've been going non-stop for three years. Some time off will be nice." Kakashi said.

"You need it. Allow yourself some time to be in your new home with your family." Asuma said.

"If you ever need a break I will be more than happy to come by and help out." Iruka said.

"Any of us will be. Or if you need someone to do the shopping." Gai said.

"Thank-you."

"So we got you some things for Aimi that you can go through later when you are ready. My parent also said they would be happy to babysit anytime." Ino said with a smile.

"Naruto and I got you the bassinet. This way you can have Aimi with you in the living room or in your room or outside when she is sleeping." Sakura said.

"Asuma and I got you a stroller for her so you can take her out on jogs with you." Gai said.

"We thought it would help keep Kakashi in shape." Asuma said with a chuckle.

Kakashi shook his head and everyone gave a smile.

"We also all made you some food that is in the fridge. It's already cooked so you can just warm it up when you want it. This way for the first week you don't have to worry about cooking." Shikamaru said.

"We also got you diapers they are upstairs in her room and enough formula for two weeks." Neji said.

"I don't…. I don't even know what to say for all of this." Sasuke said clearly shocked and overwhelmed.

"You don't have to do this alone and we are not letting you. So you better get ready because I expect some serious visiting rights for this little one." Sakura said with a warm smile.

"We're all here for you Sasuke." Kiba said with a smile.

"Thank-you." Sasuke said and it was clear he was lost for words at the support.

"We got the house all setup and I hope it's okay but we painted Aimi's room. It's pink with a white cherry blossom tree and a couple of doves." Tenten said.

"That sounds beautiful." Sasuke said.

"We didn't know what you would like so we went with something simple." Tenten said.

"We also set up the crib, it's white and we got her bedding and a mobile that plays music and has stars that light up on the ceiling. There's also a dresser with her clothes in it and a changing table." Sakura said.

"We setup the other rooms as well." Shikamaru said.

"Thank-you. I know this was a lot of work for you all." Kakashi said.

"It was no problem at all." Neji said.

"We won't stay long we know you are all tired and looking to settle in. But can I hold her for a minute?" Sakura said unsure how Sasuke would feel about it.

Every time any of them had come by to visit Sasuke was always the one holding Aimi and not Kakashi. They all knew that Sasuke was protective of her from everything that had happened so they couldn't blame him. Sakura figured she would ask and see how he felt about it. Sasuke looked at Kakashi real quick and saw Kakashi smile before he spoke.

"Sure."

Sasuke gently handed over Aimi to Sakura and Sakura held her like a trained medic. She smiled down at Aimi and ran her fingers over her head.

"Her hair looks like it's going to be dark." Sakura said as she saw the dark peach fuzz on Aimi's head.

"You can't beat the Uchiha genes." Kakashi said with a smile.

"She might not have black hair, but a lighter hue of it with the light hair in your family." Asuma said.

"She's beautiful no matter what color she has." Kakashi said.

"She has gorgeous dark purple eyes." Sakura said.

"Really?" Ino asked.

"Ya. She's starting to wake up." Sakura said.

Aimi opened her eyes and started to squirm around and fuss as she was hungry. Sakura spoke as she handed Aimi over to Sasuke.

"Here is your Daddy sweetie."

Sasuke took Aimi as he spoke.

"Can you grab a bottle please Dad."

"Yup." Kakashi said as he went over to the diaper bag that was on the island and grabbed one of the small bottles from the hospital.

At the mention of dad the others were shocked and looked surprised to hear it coming from Sasuke. Sasuke didn't notice as he was looking down at Aimi trying to soothe her. Naruto mouthed dad to Sakura and she told him later. Lee looked like he was going to say something, but Gai shook his head no to keep him quiet. Kakashi got the bottle ready and went and handed it over to Sasuke.

"Here you go Son."

"Thanks." Sasuke said as he took it and began to feed Aimi. Kakashi went back over to the three adults and he could see the questioning look.

"I love him like a son. I see no need to hide that and he doesn't either." Kakashi whispered softly.

"And you shouldn't have to." Asuma said with support back.

"Well my friend we will get out of your hair and allow the three of you to settle in." Gai said loud enough for everyone to hear him.

"Gai is right. Come on everyone they have spent a week in the hospital I am sure they just want to relax and see their new home." Iruka said.

"Sakura and me will come by tomorrow and see you guys." Naruto said to Sasuke.

"Not everyone all at once Aimi needs rest and too many people all the time could make her sick." Iruka said.

"We will be careful of how many of us stop in." Ino said.

"Thank-you again for everything you have done this past week." Kakashi said.

"It was no problem at all." Shikamaru said on everyone's behalf.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke. Goodbye sweetie." Sakura said to Aimi before she got up.

They all made their way out of the house and once everyone was gone Kakashi sat down in the chair while Sasuke fed Aimi.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked.

"Overwhelmed honestly. I have always thought I would be doing this on my own. Having to hide and constantly moving around just to keep her hidden and safe. I wanted to come back here and find you, but at the same time I was terrified that when you found out how." Sasuke said and he closed his eyes to fight back the memories and emotions going through him. After a moment he spoke again. "I thought you wouldn't want anything to do with me. I know the others don't know the truth, but I never expected them to be so supportive and accepting of me having her. It's overwhelming and it all feels like a dream." Sasuke said as he went to burp Aimi.

"I know it seems crazy to you. I would imagine everything right now is overwhelming for you. There has been a lot that has happened to you and you are just naturally expecting the worst is going to happen. They all care about you and this little one. They are going to be supportive even if they knew how she was born. It will get easier for you to accept that they care and want to help. It's going to take time for you to get used to the way life is like now." Kakashi said calmly.

"You never gave up on me. You spent three years looking for me. You put your life on hold just to find me. You took me and Aimi in when you didn't have to. I don't know how I could ever thank-you for everything." Sasuke said with emotion all throughout his voice that made his hitch worse.

"You never have to thank me for anything. I wasn't going to stop until I found you and brought you home. Was I shocked that you had a baby in your arms, of course, but I wouldn't change having you both here and in my life for anything Son. I'm taking some time off so we can adjust to everything together. I'm in no hurry to get back out there, especially after these last three years."

"I can't believe you don't hate me." Sasuke said with hurt in his voice.

"Why would I ever hate you Son?" Kakashi asked with hurt in his voice.

"Because of what happened, what he did to me. She was born from me. How can you not hate me or be disgusted by me?" Sasuke asked with hurt and confusion in his voice.

"What Orochimaru did to you is not your fault in any way. I know how Aimi was made was untraditional and very different, but that would never make me hate you or be disgusted by you. Sasuke, you grew this beautiful little girl inside of you. You gave her life. That's not disgusting it's a miracle and amazing. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. I couldn't be prouder of you or love you any more Son." Kakashi said in a serious voice.

"I love you too Dad."

"Do you want to open the gifts or check out the house?" Kakashi asked with a smile.

"Look around?" Sasuke said slightly unsure. Kakashi was used to it by now. He had realised that Sasuke wasn't used to having choices and had spent the last three years being told what to do. When given a choice he wasn't sure which answer he was supposed to give. It was why Kakashi was giving Sasuke more choices so he could get used to having choices again.

"Sure." Kakashi said with a smile.

They both got up and Sasuke held onto Aimi as they made their way around the house. They looked at the first floor and saw that there was a part bathroom on the first floor as well as a dining room, kitchen and living room. There was a backdoor to the backyard and they were both pleased to see it was all fenced off. There was plenty of room back there that they could plant and make a garden and have a playground for when Aimi was older. They then headed up the stairs and that was slightly painful for Sasuke. His body was shaky and Sasuke knew he would need to rest soon.

"Can you take her please?" Sasuke said with pain in his voice.

"Always." Kakashi said as he could see Sasuke struggling with the pain.

Kakashi took Aimi in his right arm and used his left hand to help Sasuke up the last few steps.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked with concern.

"I'll be fine. Stairs are harder than I thought." Sasuke said with a heavy breath.

"Do you want to rest a minute?"

"No I'll be fine."

Kakashi gave a nod and they went down the hallway and saw that the first room was Kakashi's followed by Sasuke's and then Aimi's room was at the very end of the hallway. Both Kakashi and Sasuke liked that Aimi was at the end of the hallway and furthest from the stairs. So if an enemy attacked them she would be the furthest room meaning the enemy would have to sneak by both Kakashi and Sasuke first. The bathroom was opposite of Sasuke's bedroom. They walked into Aimi's room and they both smiled. The room was a pretty pink color with a white cheery blossom tree on the one wall where the changing table was. All of the furniture was white and the crib bedding was pink as well. There was the mobile attached to the crib already and the dresser had clothes in it. On the changing table there was storage underneath with wipes, diapers, clothes and receiving blankets.

"This is beautiful." Sasuke said.

"It is. They have done amazing on it. We truly are home." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Finally." Sasuke said with a look of peace on his face.

"Tsunade said there was a basement with a washer and dryer so we don't have to worry about laundry. Why don't we get you back downstairs and you can go through this beautiful little one's gifts." Kakashi suggested.

"Can we maybe have some lunch?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course. You never have to ask ok?" Kakashi said gently.

Sasuke gave a nod and together they headed down the stairs slowly and back over to the couch.

"Would you be okay if I put her down in the bassinet?" Kakashi asked.

"Ok"

Kakashi placed Aimi in the bassinet as she slept. He put a blanket over her and made sure he had her placed in the middle of the table so Sasuke could still see her.

"I will go and see what they have made for us. What do you feel like?" Kakashi asked as he headed over to the kitchen.

"I don't really care." Sasuke answered as he sat back on the couch and tried to get the shaking to slow down.

Kakashi opened the fridge and he wasn't surprised to see the amount of food that was in there. He figured they could always freeze some and warm it up later in the oven as they wouldn't have been able to eat it all. Kakashi smiled as he saw what Sakura had made sure to make.

"Guess what Sakura made you?"

"What?"

"Homemade tomato soup." Kakashi said with a smile as he looked at Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes lit up at the mention of tomato soup.

"Really?"

"A huge pot full. Do you want me to warm some up and make grilled cheese with it?"

"Yes please." Sasuke said with a smile.

"Alright I will start to cook the sandwiches and warm up some of this soup."

"Do you want help?"

"No, you stay there and try to get the pain under control. Do you want a pill for it?"

"Maybe later. It hurts my stomach if I take it before eating."

"That's common with a lot of pain medication. Just relax." Kakashi said calmly as he began to put some of the soup into a smaller pot to warm it up on the stove before he went and started to make the grilled cheese sandwiches.

Sasuke put his head back and closed his eyes. He was in pain all of the time, but he was used to the pain. The problem was with having Aimi he couldn't be sitting down all day or weak like he would be in the Sound. He was also getting more side effects from the bruising on his brain. His body was hitting a wall after so long that now it was needing a break, something he didn't really have the time for with having to look after Aimi. Sasuke took a few slow deep breaths to try and calm the pain down like he had done for the past three years. It seemed like his body was getting weaker now that he wasn't being hurt every day. Sasuke didn't understand why, but he was hoping he would start to feel better soon. After fifteen minutes Kakashi came over to the couch with a small bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. He placed it down on the coffee table and Sasuke opened his eyes. He sat up and his stomach let out a loud growl at the smell of the tomato soup. Sasuke blushed in embarrassment and Kakashi gave a chuckle as he sat down in the chair with his own bowl and sandwich. Sasuke picked up one half of the sandwich and dipped it into the soup before he blew on it slightly and took a bite. He moaned at the taste of it.

"I will never get tired of this taste." Sasuke said with a small smile.

"I have a feeling tomato soup and grilled cheese has always been your favorite food." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Since I was three. It was the first thing Itachi ever made for me. I ate it a lot growing up until Itachi learnt how to cook other foods."

"Itachi cooked you food? I would have thought your mother always did the cooking. I know she wanted to stay home to take care of her family." Kakashi said. He didn't know much about Sasuke's childhood and he was very interested in hearing about it.

"She did for dinner mostly. She always cooked for father and Itachi. I got to eat because I was there. It wasn't often she made something just for me. The dinner was always something they both really liked even if I hated it. Sometimes she would make me a sandwich for lunch if she was making one for herself or lunch for father or Itachi. When Itachi started going out on longer missions and then father would be gone. Mother would spend time with other family or friends and wouldn't come home until late. I learnt how to cook simple food so I wouldn't have to wait around for her to come back."

"They would just leave you all alone?" Kakashi asked slightly hurt.

"Itachi got busy with missions when he was ten and Father would be busy with his missions or running the Clan. Mother didn't see the point in staying home with just me there. When Itachi was around for lunch he would make me something to eat or something for dinner. I make it sound like my mother was horrible."

"No you don't. I just couldn't imagine leaving someone as young as you were home alone."

"She was caring, she tried her best. When I was hurt from training she would put cream on my wounds. She would give me a hug when I was sick or sad. She tried. They didn't expect to have another child after Itachi. They didn't really have an interest in raising another child, but she tried. Father wasn't too happy about it. He didn't see the point in having me. I was never going to be good enough for him. He had Itachi and he didn't need another son. He would go weeks before he said a single word to me. In the week before the Clan's death he started to teach me how to do the Grand Fireball technique. Him and Itachi had been fighting for months and I think he only taught me just so he could try and replace Itachi."

"You have always had more potential than Itachi. It was clear in your eyes. You hid a lot of that potential and talent though, why is that?"

"What makes you say that?"

"It was clear to me that you were holding back. I tried to get you to open up and reach out with your full power, but you always held back. You didn't even get your Sharigan until you were twelve in battle, but you could have gotten it much younger. You didn't push yourself for it though. Why did you hold back?"

"For the Sharigan it scared me. Most of my nightmares from that night were just red eyes. Itachi seemed to change the more powerful he got. The more deadlier he became. I always saw the human side of him, but that night I saw the deadly ninja. I didn't want my Sharigan just yet, I hadn't needed it until I did then it came out. I didn't want that power to change me like it changed him. Growing up we always talked and hung out as much as we could. He would train me and I would watch him train. I learnt a lot and he saw it too. I was seven when I could do a Jounin level technique. He saw that I would be stronger than him, he was the only one. So he would train me, but he warned me that dangerous ninja would come after me for my power. He said I needed to keep it hidden even from Father. He didn't want me to be used as a weapon. I didn't want that either so I agreed to keeping it hidden. I still trained as hard as I could and he trained me when he had the chance. Even after what happened with the Clan I still listened to him and kept it hidden. I don't want to be used as a weapon so I kept it hidden. Even from Orochimaru."

"What have you kept hidden?" Kakashi asked gently.

"It doesn't matter I can't be fighting anymore. Just the thought of being out in battle makes it hard to breathe." Sasuke said with anxiety and fear in his voice.

"It's okay you don't have to fight anymore. I'll fight to keep you both safe. I was just curious."

"I used to sneak into the Uchiha Temple and read the ancient scrolls and techniques. I could control nature's chakra and use it as my own. I could move weapons without touching them just with my chakra. There was this ancient story since the beginning of the Clan, you've probably heard about. There's this book that is full of pages with techniques from the Greats. Techniques that no one has been able to use in thousands of years. They were said to be the techniques of the Gods and only their descendants would be able to access the words on the pages. Otherwise they would remain blank."

"Right I've heard Obito talking about it. The most powerful were from your Clan and it was believed that one day an old God would strike war on the world and only a descendant would be able to fight and win the war. Obito said that each generation they would hand the book to the most promising within the Clan to see if the pages would react to that person's chakra. They haven't had anyone be able to read the book in over a thousand years." Kakashi said.

"Everyone thought it would be Itachi. I remember that day perfectly. I was just four and Itachi had become very strong and powerful very quickly. Everyone believed he was the one that would bring peace to this world. My Father and the Clan's Council took the book from the Temple and brought it to our house. I was supposed to be sleeping, but I was curious about what was happening. I went to the top of the stairs and looked down into the living room. They handed Itachi the book and he put some chakra into it to see if the words would appear, but nothing happened. Everyone was really disappointed and they believed that maybe he was too young still. Father was going to return the book in the morning. Itachi thought maybe he could try again if he focused hard enough. They agreed to let Itachi keep the book for the night. I went to bed and Itachi snuck in, in the middle of the night. He had the book with him and he sat down on the bed. He told me that he knew he wasn't the chosen one. He said there had always been something special about me he knew the second he held me for the first time. He said my eyes held an old soul in them. He gave me the book and all of this chakra started to flow out of it as it glowed. Words started to appear on the pages and I could read it. I thought Itachi would be mad, but he just smiled at me and told me that I have always been special."

"Sasuke that is amazing. That would explain why you've learnt so quickly. You were born with power. What happened to the book?"

"I didn't want anything to do with it and Itachi knew it would be too dangerous for me to keep it. So he took it back and come morning he said it wouldn't work for him. He apologised to Father for letting him down, but he was relieved it wasn't him. He knew even at that age that he was just being used as a weapon by the Clan and Konoha. He didn't want the same for me and I didn't either. So we kept it quiet and I never touched the book again, not until after the Clan's death. Afterwards I would go to the temple and spend all day reading the scrolls and the book. When I got my Sharigan I went down there and memorised everything that I could get my hands on just in case for later. I would go out into the woods at night and practice using the techniques when I knew no one would be around to see me or feel it."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"At first I didn't know if I could trust you and then we started to get close. You were the only person besides Itachi that ever saw me as a person and not just another Uchiha. All those nights we stayed up to talk because I was afraid to fall asleep from the nightmares. You became my Dad. I never had a Dad before and I was afraid that if you knew you might tell the Hokage or push me to show you. I was afraid I would lose you and I couldn't lose you. I'm sorry I never told you."

"It's okay I can understand why you didn't. You were just a twelve year old that went through something horrible. I can understand why you would be scared to tell me something as serious as this. If you were able to access all of those techniques then why didn't you go after Itachi and try to kill him? You would have been able to probably."

"I could of, but as angry as I was I never truly wanted him dead. I was so hurt by what he did, but not killing them, leaving me. I would have went with him. I would have gone anywhere with him, no questions asked. I love him, he was my big brother I would have done anything for him. I was hurt and that turned into anger. The curse seal only made it worse. I knew it was feeding into my anger and I was trying to control it. I started to meditate to try and control it. I was going to talk to you about it that night of the fight with Naruto when I had calmed down, but I was taken. I was able to control it over the last three years and now it doesn't affect me."

"I don't suppose you found anything that would work to remove that seal?"

"I wish. I would spend our days off in the Temple going over every scroll just trying to find something that would work. I don't know if there ever will be a way to remove it. It doesn't hurt anymore now that he is dead at least."

"It hurt before?"

"It would burn all the time. Sometimes it would keep me up at night. It doesn't hurt anymore now." Sasuke said as he finished his lunch.

"Good. How is the rest of your pain? Your shaking has gone down to normal." Kakashi said as he finished his lunch.

"I don't know why it is affecting me so much. It never used to bother me this much in the Sound. I don't know why it is now, especially when I'm not being hurt anymore."

"Your body has been in survival mode Sasuke. For three years you've had to deal with more than anyone ever should have to go through. You've just been trying to survive each and every day. It's natural for your body to not register how much pain your body is in when your mind is focused on something else. Now that you are safe your mind is finally registering how injured your body is. I know you are in pain and just don't feel too great, but each day you will get better. You are starting to eat more which is good for your body and bones to heal. You'll be better before you know it." Kakashi said with a warm smile.

"I'm sorry about earlier when the others were hear and I called you Dad. I know we haven't really talked about it. It just slipped out I'm sorry."

"You don't ever have to apologise for calling me Dad around anyone Sasuke. I love you like a son. That is not going to change. We aren't family by blood, but in my heart you are my son and I don't care who knows it. You don't ever have to be worried about calling me Dad in front of anyone. I will always answer my Son." Kakashi said in a serious voice.

Sasuke gave a smile to that and Kakashi felt good every time he saw a smile on Sasuke's face. He knew that Sasuke was struggling to get back into the normal routine, especially with Aimi now. Kakashi was going to have patience with Sasuke and slowly get him used to how life is like now.

"Why don't you open the gifts and see what goodies you got." Kakashi said with a smile.

"It's going to be a lot to put away."

"You open I will put them away. The stroller is very nice. It'll be good for you once you are healed and feeling better. You can take her outside without having to carry everything."

"Ya it will be nice. It's very nice and not something I ever thought about. Most of this stuff I didn't even think of. All I've been able to think about is making sure she is okay and fed and changed. I forgot about anything else."

"So did I. Thankfully we are both blessed with friends that are able to think when we can't. And it sounds like a lot of willing babysitters."

"I don't know if I would trust Naruto to watch her alone just yet." Sasuke said with a smile as he grabbed one of the many gift bags.

"No probably not a good idea. At least until she is older. Sakura would be good though and when she gets older she will want a mother figure in her life. Sakura would be very good for her."

"Is it weird for you to be helping raise your sister's child? You don't have any hard feelings over it? Over her being born?" Sasuke asked calmly as he pulled out some clothes.

"None at all. The situation around it is not one I ever expected. She died when I was so young I barely remember her and what I do is from pictures and stories my parents have told me. I could never hate or resent this beautiful little girl. It's not her fault that Orochimaru stole my sister's eggs and did what he did. It's no one's fault but Orochimaru, he's the only one to hate and blame. Not her and not you. I'll always love her and you." Kakashi said with an easy smile.

"We'll always love you." Sasuke said with a smile.

Sasuke and Kakashi went through the gifts and once they were done Kakashi took them all up the stairs as Sasuke fed and changed Aimi. They were shocked at how many gifts they were given by the others. There were clothes, blankets, cloths, sandals and a few stuffed animals. They spent the rest of the day and evening just relaxing and getting used to being home with Aimi. They warmed up a chicken pasta dish that Ino had made in the oven and they ate while Aimi was sleeping once again. When it was nine o'clock they decided to head up to bed. They were both tired from not sleeping much from the last week. There was a baby monitor in the Aimi's room and they both had a monitor in their room so they could hear Aimi. Kakashi knew Sasuke could handle Aimi on his own, but he didn't want him to have to do that on his own just yet. He wanted Sasuke to know that he was here for him and he also wanted to make sure Sasuke was okay. He didn't want Sasuke to be holding Aimi and walking around if he was dizzy. It was too easy to trip or fall over while holding Aimi and she could get hurt.

Sasuke placed Aimi down in her crib and she was already asleep in his arms so he made sure she stayed sleeping before he covered her with a blanket. He stood there just looking down at his daughter and he felt so much love in him just at the sight of her sleeping face. Kakashi placed a supportive hand around Sasuke's shoulders and gave him a small side hug as he looked at Aimi's beautiful sleeping face. After a few minutes Kakashi guided Sasuke out of the room and they gently closed the door most of the way, but left it open slightly so they could hear her even if they weren't around the baby monitors. They walked to Sasuke room and Kakashi stopped and spoke.

"Are you okay?

"I'm fine. Just tired. Are you okay?"

"I am perfectly fine. Get some sleep. I'll get up with her each time so if you are too tired and can't get up don't worry about it. I have her." Kakashi said with a warm smile.

"Thanks. I'll probably be up though."

"Ok. Get some sleep while you can. I love you son."

"I love you too Dad."

Kakashi placed a gently kiss to the top of Sasuke's head before he turned and headed down the hallway to his bedroom. Sasuke went into his room and he closed the door. There in the room was his bed, desk and dresser that he had in his old home. They even put his pictures on his bedside table like he had in his old apartment. Sasuke didn't know why, but just the sight of seeing his room brought the tears to his eyes and Sasuke couldn't stop them from going down his face. Sasuke placed his hand over his mouth to stifle the sounds as he sank down to the ground against the wall and pulled his legs up to his chest and cried hard. Sasuke didn't know why he was crying at just the sight of his room, but he couldn't seem to stop. Sasuke hadn't shed a single tear during his time in the Sound, not a single one and now he couldn't seem to stop. Sasuke sat there on the floor just crying for a couple of hours. He was able to stop for a couple of minutes before he broke down in tears all over again. Sasuke got up off the floor and quietly headed down to Aimi's room. He knew she would be awake soon so he went in there as the tears continued to go down his face. He clicked the monitor off so Kakashi wouldn't wake up. He knew Kakashi was exhausted from the past week being up with him every two hours to take care of Aimi. Not to mention the past three years he spent traveling all over the world just to find him.

Sasuke looked down at Aimi and the tears came back full force once again. Aimi began to wiggle around as she started to wake up. Sasuke went over to the dresser where they still had a packages of bottles from the hospital. Sasuke opened one and got it ready before he picked up Aimi as she let out a small cry. He went over to the chair in the room and sat down and began to feed Aimi. Sasuke was still crying and no matter what he did he couldn't seem to stop. Sasuke fed, burped and changed Aimi all while he continued to cry. He held her until she fell asleep and he placed her back down in her crib. Sasuke went over to the other side of the room and sat down on the floor once again with his back against the wall and his legs brought up to his chest and tried to get the tears to stop.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't until two in the morning when Kakashi rolled over. He looked at the clock and was shocked to see what time it was. He had just slept for five hours straight in dead sleep. Kakashi sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. He hadn't expected to be sleeping that soundly. Kakashi got up and headed out of the room so he could check in on Aimi to make sure she was alright and wasn't going to be waking up soon. Kakashi didn't know how he didn't hear her for the past five hours, but he wanted to make sure she was alright. Kakashi went to Aimi's room and opened the door. He was shocked to see Sasuke sitting with his legs up to his chest with his back against the wall. He was still crying and Kakashi instantly thought the worst. He went over to the crib and looked in.

"She's okay. She's been asleep for half an hour now." Sasuke said with tears going down his face.

Kakashi went over to Sasuke and bent down across from him with worry all over his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I just can't stop crying." Sasuke said with a very shaky voice as the hitch was even worse with the crying and emotions going through Sasuke.

"For how long have you been in here?" Kakashi asked with sadness in his voice.

"Since eleven. I was in my room for two hours, but for some reason the second I saw everything I just started to cry and I can't stop. I don't know why. I haven't cried in three years, not one tear and now I can't stop no matter what."

"It's like I said before you were in survival mode. Even though you have been safe for a week your mind didn't register it. When you saw your room and all of your old things it finally hit you that you are safe. You're grieving now Sasuke. All of the pain you went through for three years that you kept in. All of the torture you endured. All of the times he raped you. The ten children you were pregnant with. It doesn't matter that you weren't that far along when you lost them, you lost them. Your son died in your arms Sasuke. You are finally grieving the loss of them all." Kakashi said with hurt in his voice at seeing his son like this.

The tears came down faster and harder now at the memory of holding his son dying in his arms. "I don't even know where he is. He took him, he could have just been thrown into the woods. I can't even bury him like he deserves. He could have been kept for experiments I don't even know. He's my son and I don't even know where he is."

Kakashi pulled Sasuke into a hug and Sasuke buried his head into Kakashi's chest. Kakashi held on tight to Sasuke and just allowed him to grieve the loss of his son. Kakashi didn't say anything, there wasn't anything for him to be able to even say to make Sasuke feel better. All Kakashi could do was hold onto Sasuke while he cried his heart out over the loss of the children he never got to have. The children he lost from the torture and abuse on his body. A body that wasn't even supposed to have children to begin with.

They sat like that for an hour until Kakashi felt a dark chakra in the house. Kakashi snapped his attention away from Sasuke and to the door. Kakashi didn't know who it was, but they didn't feel friendly. Kakashi turned back to Sasuke who had tears on his face.

"Stay here and don't come out no matter what." Kakashi said in a serious voice.

Sasuke gave a shaky nod as he got up with Kakashi and Sasuke went over to Aimi to stand on guard. Kakashi went out of the room and closed the door. He was shocked to see Itachi making his way down the hallway. Kakashi opened his Sharigan eye and started to glow the chidori in his hand as he spoke.

"Get the hell out of here. Now." Kakashi growled out with anger. He was not going to let anyone hurt Sasuke or Aimi. He didn't care if fighting Itachi would kill him, he would take Itachi down with him.

"You should know better than to stand in my way Kakashi." Itachi said with a deadly tone as his eyes changed to red.

"I will always stand in your way to protect him. Get out." Kakashi snapped back with an equally deadly tone.

Before Itachi could say anything Sasuke was out of the room and standing between the two of them. Sasuke put his hand on Kakashi's chest as he spoke.

"It's okay Dad. He's not here to hurt me. He's been looking for me too. He won't hurt anyone." Sasuke said before he turned to look at Itachi with his hand still on Kakashi's chest. "He got me out. He looked for three years non-stop to find me. Please don't hurt him."

Itachi's eyes went back to black as he spoke gently to Sasuke. "You've been crying little brother. What has you up at this hour crying?"

"A lot. I don't want to talk about it right now though ok?" Sasuke said back slight unsure.

"Whenever you are ready I will always listen. You got him out." Itachi said as he looked to Kakashi.

Kakashi closed his Sharigan eye and got rid of the chidori as he spoke. "I've been searching for the past three years. I haven't even been back in Konoha. I found him a week ago finally. He killed Orochimaru a minute before I got there. I got him to the hospital here in Konoha and he was just released today. You've been looking for him?" Kakashi asked and they could hear the slight shock in his voice.

"Since I had heard he was captured." Itachi said back.

"You were close a few times. Close enough that Orochimaru moved bases to avoid you finding me." Sasuke said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find you sooner little brother." Itachi said with regret.

"Why would you try and find him Itachi? All you've done in recent years is hurt him." Kakashi said guardedly. He was not willing or ready to trust Itachi all of a sudden.

"He's not going to hurt me." Sasuke said.

"You can't trust him. He could be trying to take advantage of you Son."

"You are calling him son and he's calling you dad. That sounds a little manipulative Kakashi." Itachi said in a deadly tone.

"Please both of you stop. I love you both and you both want me safe and tried to free me for three years despite what it could do to yourself. Niisan, Kakashi and me we were getting really close before I was captured. The last three years just made it stronger he loves me like a son and I love him like a dad. I finally have a dad and he has been amazing this past week. He hasn't even left my side longer than then the time it take to take a shower. We're living together. He moved just so we could live together." Sasuke said before he turned his head to look at Kakashi. "Dad, Itachi was ordered to kill the Clan by the Council and the Third. I found out six months into the Sound what truly happened. Orochimaru showed me the documents and bragged about it. Said that Konoha wasn't coming for me because they wanted me dead when I was seven. He refused to kill me so they sent him away on this mission to the Ataksuki as a spy. He reports to Danzou all the time. He did it all to keep me alive. You both don't trust each other, but you both want the same thing. Trust me and my trusting of you both please. I need you both in my life don't make me choose." Sasuke said with a deep emotion in his voice and eyes.

Kakashi and Itachi both looked at each other and they could see that they didn't trust each other fully yet, but for Sasuke they could be civil and learn.

"I would never hurt him." Kakashi said.

"I would never hurt him." Itachi said back.

"You guys won't kill each other?" Sasuke asked.

"No Son we won't." Kakashi said with a smile to Sasuke.

"I would never take away your Dad little brother." Itachi said as he pulled Sasuke gently into a hug. Sasuke hugged him back and he felt a few tears coming down his face again. Itachi held him tighter and rubbed a hand along his back. "Injuries?" Itachi asked as he looked at Kakashi as he held onto Sasuke.

"A lot of bruising and cuts. He had broken ribs, but Tsunade healed them. He'll be sore for a good while. He was dehydrated, malnourished and his bones are weak and sore from the lack of nutrition in his body. He also has bruising all throughout his brain that will heal with time. Until then he gets dizzy spells, tired, headaches, his hands shake and the hitch in his voice is from it. He has some memory problems some days, but nothing too extreme. His vocal cords and wind pipe were deeply bruised from the collar as well. He'll be a hundred percent physically again within three months." Kakashi said with anger edging his voice at the amount of injuries Sasuke had.

Itachi's eyes glowed red for a second before going back to black. Sasuke moved back and wiped his cheeks.

"I um… I have someone for you to meet. It's a long story that I can't do right now. Someday, but not right now."

"It's okay you can tell me when you are ready. Who is it that I need to meet?" Itachi asked calmly.

"In here. Please don't freak out though." Sasuke said nervously.

"I won't. I promise." Itachi said easily.

Sasuke turned and headed for Aimi's room with Kakashi and Itachi right behind him. Itachi instantly noticed that it was a nursery and he knew who Sasuke needed him to meet. Sure enough there was a crib and Itachi looked in it to see a little baby girl, no older than a week. Itachi knew she was his niece. He didn't know how it happened, but he could guess with Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"What's my niece's name little brother?" Itachi asked calmly with a warm smile to Sasuke.

Sasuke let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding before he spoke. "Aimi."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl. I won't pick her up and risk waking her this time, but I make no promises for next time. I know you need sleep." Itachi said with a warm smile.

"You're okay with this?" Sasuke asked nervously.

"Why wouldn't I be? You have a daughter little brother I could never be not okay with it. You both are living here with Kakashi and you are raising her. You could have walked away and no one would have blamed you, but you didn't. I couldn't be prouder of you little brother and nothing would ever change that. You will be an amazing dad." Itachi said with a smile as he pulled Sasuke in for a hug.

Sasuke hugged him back as he was so relieved to hear that from Itachi. He was terrified that Itachi would be mad at him for having a child. Itachi kissed the top of Sasuke's head before he pulled back.

"I have a gift for you, a baby gift." Itachi said with a smile as he made a few hand seals and a panther appeared in the bedroom.

"Itachi what are you doing?" Kakashi asked not liking the situation.

"This is my trusted friend. She is only two years old and I have been training her since she was born. She was the runt in the litter of our Clan's ninja panthers. Her mother couldn't take her on so I took her. Her name is Surabi. Many dangerous people will be after you and this little one, she will keep you both safe. She also has a way to contact me should you ever need me." Itachi said.

Surabi came over to Sasuke and rubbed her head against his leg and purred. It was clear to the panther that Sasuke was not stable emotionally and she was trying to provide comfort to him.

"Does she talk?" Sasuke asked as he petted Surabi's head.

"Not yet. She is still too young for that. She is trained and you can train her further Kakashi as you have with your hounds."

"I'm not sure how I feel about having a panther in the house, even a trained ninja one." Kakashi said unsure of this.

"She will be very good for protection, she is very sensitive to darker chakra she will tell you if an enemy is close by. Though there are other reasons to keep an animal around other than protection. Reasons I am sure you are aware of Kakashi if you think about it for a moment." Itachi said calmly as he looked at Sasuke who had a small smile on his face and he petted Surabi.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke and could instantly see why Itachi wanted to have the panther here. It would be great for protection, even better than his hounds. Panthers were very protective of their family as all large cats were, especially a female. She would take to Sasuke and Aimi, especially Aimi as she was an infant. Surabi would see Aimi as her own and would kill anyone that dared to hurt her. Surabi though would also provide comfort to Sasuke. Animals were very good for trauma and recovering from trauma. Surabi seemed to instantly know that Sasuke was suffering from trauma as she went straight to him and not even to Itachi, her master.

"Yes Itachi I suppose you are right about that. She will be very helpful to have for protection as well. It will ease my mind to know that an enemy will have to get passed the both of us to get to Sasuke and Aimi. I'll deal with Tsunade about it. I can't imagine she would say no to my arguments." Kakashi said calmly already knowing that he couldn't have Surabi sent back.

"Are you sure you won't miss her?" Sasuke asked Itachi.

"I can see her when I visit and then after this war. She doesn't get enough attention with me. She will get plenty of attention with the three of you and she will love to have the little one to look after." Itachi said.

"Thank-you." Sasuke said with a small smile.

"You are most welcome little brother. I am thrilled that you are safe and free from that place. I wish I could stay, but I must be going. I will come back every chance that I can get and now that I know where you are I can send letters to you."

"Can I send any back?" Sasuke asked.

"You can, but don't use any names, just code names just in case. It won't be much longer before this war is here and it will be over. Once it is over I will return and maybe retirement is in my future."

"I think I already retired." Sasuke said with a shrug.

"You are allowed to stay home with this little one. That is the best retirement anyone could ask for. What about you Kakashi? Are you returning to duty?"

"I'm not going on missions until this war. Afterwards I don't know what I will be doing. Retirement might be in my future I am not sure yet."

Itachi gave a nod before he turned and spoke to Sasuke. "I must be going little brother. I love you." Itachi said as he pulled Sasuke into his arms once again to hug him and Sasuke easily hugged him back. "I'm very proud of you and she is beautiful." Itachi whispered to Sasuke before he kissed the top of Sasuke's head and pulled back.

"I'll walk you out." Kakashi said to Itachi.

Kakashi and Itachi headed out of the room and down the stairs to the front door. They got out onto the front porch when Itachi spoke.

"He is not well."

"I know. It's only been a week Itachi. He spent three years being tortured and raped. There was also another baby, just shy of a year ago now. He had a son, but the baby was born at thirty weeks, he died in Sasuke's arms. He named him Takehiko. Orochimaru took him from him and Sasuke doesn't know what happened to him. He's grieving Itachi, he's finally allowing himself to grieve the loss of his son, his first child. He's going to be struggling for a while yet." Kakashi said with hurt in his voice.

Itachi closed his eyes and Kakashi knew it was from pain at hearing how much his brother had endured in the past three years. After a moment he spoke.

"He doesn't know where the baby went?"

"No. And that's not helping him any. He doesn't have any closure. He doesn't even know if the baby was buried or just thrown away or kept as an experiment. He's never going to be able to move on until he has his son home and buried like he deserves."

"I'm sorry I wish I could go looking, but I can't. I hate that I can't, but it's getting tense in the group. The war is fast approaching and I can't risk searching the forest around the Sound bases for him." Itachi said with remorse at not being able to find his nephew.

"I know you can't. Just like I know you hate that you can't find your nephew. I'll have a couple of ninjas that I can trust go and look and see if they can find him. Sasuke needs the closure."

"He does need that. He'll never be able to move on and make peace with it until he has his son buried respectfully where he can place flowers down for him. The Inuzuka Clan, their dogs will be able to smell his blood, even after death. They will be able to find him."

"Kiba is a friend of Sasuke's I'll speak to him about going out to locate Takehiko. I'm sure he won't mind at all. You were smart in having Surabi here. She will be good for protection, but I think she is something Sasuke will need to heal."

"She knew instantly that he wasn't well. She will not wish to leave his side for long and if she does it will be for Aimi. She is very motherly even at her young age. She will die to protect them."

"I'll keep up with her training. It will be good for Aimi to grow up with a pet as well. I will keep them safe Itachi. I love them." Kakashi said with a serious voice.

"I do not doubt that. It is just different to hear my brother refer to anyone as Dad. He called Fugaku Sir, never father or Dad to his face. I am glad that he thinks of you in that sense and is comfortable calling you that, even in my presence."

"He loves you Itachi. He needs you alive and in his life just as much. Remember that when you go back out and into battle. You now have two lives waiting on your return alive to them."

"I have no desire to hurt either of them or let them down. I will return. I must take my leave. I can't be gone for too long. Be safe there will be Kabuto and the Sound coming for him. They will not wait long before they come to Konoha."

"I will protect him. Konoha will be ready to defend Sasuke." Kakashi promised.

"I hope so. I would hate to have to destroy this village should they die." Itachi said in a deadly tone.

"You won't be the only one that will want blood at their death." Kakashi said back just as deadly.

"It would appear not. Be safe my old Sempai." Itachi said before he disappeared into the trees.

Kakashi stood there a moment to make sure that there was no one else around before he went back inside. He locked the door and headed up the stairs to Aimi's room. He walked in and saw Sasuke crouched down on his knees hugging Surabi as she tried to comfort Sasuke. Sasuke had some tears going down his face again and Kakashi went over and bent down as Sasuke put his head up.

"I'm fine. I'm just relieved that Itachi wasn't mad about Aimi or didn't want me to have her. I'm also now really terrified of someone hurting her and losing her after everything that I went through just to have her safe. I'm fine I'm just really tired and I think it's making everything seem worse."

"That will make everything worse. You need proper sleep. It's almost four you need to sleep. I can't even believe that I slept for five hours and didn't hear the two of you. I'm sorry you were here alone crying your heart out." Kakashi said with remorse.

"It's not your fault. I turned the monitor off in here. I know you are exhausted you barely slept much with me in the hospital. You needed the sleep."

"Needed the sleep or not you shouldn't have been in here crying all alone Son. You can always wake me up especially when something is wrong. I want you to promise me you will next time please."

"I promise."

"Now it's your turn. You need some serious sleep. I will take care of Aimi until you wake up. You need to sleep for more than just two hours or you will be too run down."

"You don't have to. I can get her."

"I know you can, but so can I. You are still injured and you need to rest so you can heal properly. I know you don't like her being out of your sight, but you can trust me with her. She will be safe. It's no burden to me Son. Allow your body the sleep it desperately needs."

Sasuke hesitated for a moment before he gave a nod.

"Ok I am going to turn off your monitor so you won't wake up when she cries. I will turn this one back on so I can hear her. Are you okay with that?"

"Ok. I don't like it, but I know I need to sleep." Sasuke said.

Kakashi and Sasuke got up from the floor and Sasuke went and gave Aimi a soft kiss on her forehead before they headed out of the room. Surabi followed behind them and into Sasuke's room. Sasuke got into bed and Surabi got onto the bed and curled up against Sasuke.

"Looks like you have a new bedmate." Kakashi said with a smile.

Sasuke curled into Surabi's body finding comfort in her and the connection to Itachi.

"You'll wake me if something happens?" Sasuke asked as Kakashi went and turned off the monitor in Sasuke's room.

"I give you my word. Don't worry just sleep Sasuke. Give in to what your body needs." Kakashi said gently.

Sasuke gave a nod and Kakashi paced a gentle kiss to the top of Sasuke's head.

"Can you turn the desk lamp on please?" Sasuke asked as he looked down in embarrassment.

"Of course I can." Kakashi said as he went over and clicked the small desk lamp on. The room wasn't bright, but it wasn't dark either. Something that Kakashi noticed in the hospital, but he thought it was for Aimi. Kakashi now knew that Sasuke had a slight fear of the dark from his time in the Sound.

"Thank-you."

"You're welcome. Good night Son." Kakashi said with a smile as he placed his hand on the door knob.

"Good night Dad."

Kakashi closed the door and went back into Aimi's room to switch the monitor back on and he sat down in the chair to allow himself to think about everything that had just happened. He knew Aimi would need to be up within the next half hour to forty minutes for a feeding and then he would go back to bed. For right now he needed the time to think about everything that he had learnt about Itachi. He didn't expect Itachi to be an ally or care about Sasuke, but it was clear that he was. Itachi loved Sasuke and now he loved Aimi. Kakashi didn't know how he felt about all of this, but he was happy that they had someone as powerful as Itachi on their side. It would take time between the two of them to get to know each other and become friends, but Kakashi was confident they would get there because of Sasuke and Aimi. For now Kakashi was going to be happy that the two people in the world that he cared about were in his house safe and sound and that is all that mattered to Kakashi right in that very moment. His son and his niece were both safe under his watchful eye.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Warnings: Mentions of past child abuse, mentions of past child death and swearing.**_

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Chapter 3

It wasn't until nine the next morning when Kakashi woke up. He had stayed up until Aimi had her feeding and then he went back to bed. He was going to try and catch up on as much sleep as he could. He had slept for those five hours straight and then he slept for another two hours before he fed Aimi and then he had slept for the next two hours. Now it was nine and Aimi would be awake within the next thirty minutes for another feeding and Kakashi could change her. Kakashi went and summoned Pakun who appeared on his bed.

"Hey Boss. You look more rested."

"I was able to get some decent sleep last night. I need you to go and send word to Tsunade to come by here. I need to speak to her urgently."

"Sure thing. How's the kid and the pup?"

"Aimi is doing well. She's adjusting well to being here and out of the hospital. Sasuke is having a hard time. He spent five hours last night just crying. He couldn't stop. It's going to take him some time to move passed everything."

"He's been through a lot. When did you get a cat?" Pakun asked as he could sense Surabi.

"Long story. It's a panther only two years old. She was a gift from an unexpected ally."

"I'll be careful then. I'll go and inform Tsunade that you wish to speak with her."

"Thank-you."

Pakun jumped down from the bed and headed out the window. Kakashi got up and headed out of the room and went to Sasuke's room. He peeked in and saw that Sasuke was still asleep with his body curled against Surabi. Surabi lifted her head and looked over at Kakashi. Once she saw who it was she put her head back down. Kakashi gave a small smile before he closed the door quietly behind him. He felt better knowing that Sasuke now had Surabi in his life. It would be good for company at night and when he wasn't feeling that great. Surabi would be able to pick up on Sasuke's emotions and be there for him. Kakashi knew he would be able to get Tsunade to agree to it. He wasn't going to let her tell them that Surabi couldn't be here. Sasuke needed her and Kakashi wasn't going to let anyone take her from him. Kakashi headed into Aimi's room and saw her starting to move around. Kakashi went and got a diaper ready and a bottle together before he went over to Aimi and gave her a smile as he picked her up.

"Good morning beautiful."

Aimi squirmed around as she opened her eyes. Kakashi brought her over to the changing table to get her changed. He grabbed a clean sleeper as well to dress her in for the day or until she spit up and got it dirty. Kakashi got her changed as he spoke.

"Your daddy is sleeping. He needs all the sleep he can get right now so he can be nice and healthy for you. You will have to settle for hanging with me for a little while today. But Auntie Sakura and Uncle Naruto are going to be coming by today to see you. And maybe when your daddy is awake and feeling up to it we could sit out in the backyard and get you both some fresh air and sunlight. Your daddy really needs it. But first how about some breakfast eh?" Kakashi said with a smile as he picked up Aimi and the bottle and went over to the chair.

"I have lots of stories to tell you about your mommy and daddy. You know you have two of the most bravest parents in the world. You are a very lucky little girl and you are going to be overwhelmed with love. I never thought I would have children and then your daddy came into my life. Now I have a son and a beautiful niece. I can't wait to watch you grow up and go off to school. Maybe you'll be a ninja like your daddy or a doctor like your mommy wanted to be. The whole world is in your hands and I can't wait to see what you'll do with it."

Kakashi fed Aimi and when she was done her bottle he brought her downstairs with a blanket. He carried her into the kitchen and put on some coffee for himself. He was going to leave Sasuke sleeping for as long as he wanted. His body needed the rest and right now he was getting it. He knew Sasuke might not be too happy with being asleep for so long and not taking care of Aimi, but Kakashi would handle it. Sasuke needed sleep and he needed to see that Aimi would be fine when he was sleeping and away from her. If Kakashi let Sasuke's extreme need to have eyes on Aimi twenty-four/seven continue for much longer it would be impossible to break later on. Kakashi had to try and break that mindset early on so Sasuke would be alright later and not some unstable, overprotective parent. There was a knock at the door just as the coffee finished. Kakashi went over to the door and looked through the peep hole to see Tsunade standing there. Kakashi opened the door and allowed Tsunade to come inside. He closed the door as Tsunade spoke.

"Kakashi is something wrong?"

"No nothing is wrong, at least not more wrong than it has been in the past three years. I just needed to discuss three things with you."

"And this is urgent?" Tsunade asked slightly annoyed.

"It is. You'll understand after I tell you. Would you like some coffee?" Kakashi asked as he went back into the kitchen to pour his own cup.

"Might as well. Hand over Aimi I can do an exam on her while you pour the coffee."

Kakashi handed Aimi over to Tsunade and she began to check Aimi over to make sure she was still doing fine. Kakashi poured two cups of coffee as he spoke.

"The first is, Itachi came very early this morning, just after three thirty."

"Itachi was here. Why the hell would he be here? How did he know where Sasuke even was?" Tsunade asked on guard.

"Apparently he was able to sense Sasuke here or something. He knew Sasuke was back in Konoha and no longer in the Sound somehow. I haven't asked Sasuke that yet. He wasn't here to hurt anyone, well besides me if I got in his way. He had been searching for Sasuke as well these past three years. He came here to check in on Sasuke and make sure he was safe."

"But why? That doesn't make any sense."

"According to Sasuke, Itachi was ordered by the Council and the Third to kill the clan, including him. Itachi refused to kill Sasuke and he was then sent to the Ataksuki on a mission as a result of his disobedience. Sasuke found out in the Sound within the first year. Orochimaru was bragging about it to him."

"And you believe he is safe to have around?" Tsunade asked skeptically.

"I'm not saying that he would be safe in the village. I think he would be as long as Sasuke and Aimi are here. He was furious when he found me here. He would have killed me for standing in his way to get to Sasuke. But the second Sasuke was in between us he stopped. All it took was a couple of words from Sasuke and Itachi was calm and a concerned brother. He comforted Sasuke and even told him that he would send him letters to check in on him. Within a second he went from being a ninja to a brother."

"From what I have heard and remember when they were younger Itachi was very caring towards Sasuke and very protective. If what Orochimaru told Sasuke was true I can see him refusing to kill Sasuke. I'll have to research this and see if I can find any written proof. Did he know about Aimi?"

"Sasuke showed her to him. I have to say it was one of the first times I've ever seen love in Itachi's eyes. Despite his actions he does love the both of them. He didn't question Sasuke on Aimi. He just said she was beautiful and that he was proud of him."

"And you trust him?"

"I trust Sasuke. I was worried that Itachi was just taking advantage of Sasuke, but not even Itachi can fake that much love in his eyes. That much emotions. What threat he may be to the village, I don't know. But I do know he is no threat to Sasuke or Aimi."

"I'll research what Sasuke said and see if I can find any truth within it. If it is true then when the time comes for it I will figure out what to do with Itachi then. For now keep an eye out and make sure he doesn't get any time alone with either of them just in case."

"I had no plans of it."

"What is the second issue?"

"Sasuke just shy of a year ago gave birth to another baby. It was a boy that he name Takehiko. He was only thirty weeks and Sasuke cut him out of himself. He died in Sasuke's arms. Orochimaru came in a little while after and took the baby out of Sasuke's arms and after that Sasuke doesn't know. He spent five hours last night just crying his heart out. He couldn't stop and the only reason he did was because Itachi showed up and he was too busy trying to keep us from killing each other. He was pregnant with ten other children that never made it very far."

"He's grieving those losses. It's a great deal of pain that is now being thrown into his face. It's going to take time for him to move passed what happened to him." Tsunade said sadly.

"I can't do anything about the ten he lost. I can though try and do something for his son. I'd like to have a small squad go out and try to locate the baby. Akamaru would be able to find the baby and hopefully they could bring him home so Sasuke could have closure."

"I reasonable request. Who else were you thinking?"

"Shikamaru and Neji. Just the three of them go out and see if they can locate the baby."

"That's fine by me. Having closure will help Sasuke heal from this and move on. Do you wish to speak with them or have me do it?"

"I'll speak with them. It should come from me. I don't want Sasuke knowing just yet. I don't want to get his hopes up."

"Understandable."

"The final issue I wanted to speak to you about is the gift that Itachi gave Sasuke and Aimi."

"It's not dangerous is it?"

"Um potentially. It's a panther, a two year old female panther." Kakashi said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Excuse me? There is a panther in this house?" Tsunade said clearly slightly alarmed.

"Hear me out first. Her name is Surabi and she is a ninja panther. Itachi has had her since she was born practically. He's been training her. She's only two, but she will be very protective of Aimi and Sasuke. She went straight to Sasuke last night almost instantly. Tsunade-Sama, she knew that Sasuke wasn't okay. He bent right down and petted her and hugged her. When Itachi left Sasuke started to cry again and he just held onto her and she comforted him. She followed him into his room and right up on his bed. They are still asleep on his bed with him curled against her. I'm not happy about it being a panther any more than you are, but she could be really good for Sasuke and his recovery. He needs her." Kakashi said trying to get Tsunade to understand just how important this was.

Tsunade let out a sigh before she spoke. "This is a panther we are talking about Kakashi and not some puppy. I can understand that having an animal is helpful to Sasuke. They have been known to help people heal from traumas. My concern is that this is a panther given to him by Itachi. There is no telling what could happen. She could be relying information back to Itachi or she could be waiting until he orders her to kill you. We don't know what his intensions are or what her power is even."

"I can test her power out easily enough and I can train her. I don't believe that Itachi would do anything to hurt Sasuke or Aimi. I would stake my life on it. Surabi didn't even hesitate. She went right over to Sasuke and ignored Itachi, her master. She won't harm anyone unless they are dangerous to Sasuke or Aimi. I know it's hard to trust Itachi's intensions where Sasuke and Aimi are concerned, but you didn't see what I saw. He loves them. He loves them enough that he would sacrifice his good name and himself just to keep them safe. If they die he'll lose that control and he'll kill everyone in his path. He isn't going to hurt them and hurting me would hurt Sasuke. Sasuke asked me to trust him and now I am asking you to trust me. Sasuke needs Surabi in his life right now. Not only for protection, but for his mental and emotional health. Please trust me on this and at least wait to see what she is like around people before you decide." Kakashi said hoping he could get Tsunade to at least agree for a little while.

Tsunade was quiet as she looked at Kakashi. She could see that he wasn't going to let this go. This was important to him and Tsunade didn't want to cause an all-out war with Kakashi with this. "Alright, I will wait and see how this plays out. But I will make this very clear Kakashi. One time and only one time if she hurts anyone in the village she will be gone."

"I understand. Thank-you this means a lot to me and to Sasuke."

"Yes I can see that. This little one is fine and with Sasuke asleep I won't go and check on him and risk waking him up. I am assuming Sakura will be by today and she can always check him over if something is wrong. I haven't heard word yet form the ANBU squads. No word is good news for now. I did send a letter to Gaara letting him know that we have located Sasuke and he has been returned to the village and is healing. He has been looking for him as well in the past three years. I suspect he will make an appearance at some point in the near future to see what needs to be done. Do not be surprised if he shows up here looking to speak with you or Sasuke. He's been quite concerned."

"It's understandable. They didn't really get along, but Sasuke was the first person Gaara ever respected, saw as an equal. He's welcome to come by for a visit. The more powerful ninja looking out for Sasuke and Aimi the safer they will be."

"Yes well by some miracle this little one is perfectly healthy." Tsunade said as she passed Aimi back over to Kakashi who willingly took her back.

"The one good thing that came out of this whole nightmare. Sasuke wouldn't have survived losing another child. He wouldn't have found the strength to keep going."

"Now we work on making sure they are both protected. I have ANBU out around the house and in the back woods. You may also consider setting up your own traps."

"I will. I'll look into Jitsus and see if I can find one that would put some kind of protection around this place. I don't know if it is possible, but I'll look into it. I also need to speak to Sasuke about having a safe place for him and Aimi to hide should the worst happen. We need to be prepared just in case."

"I agree. You need to make sure you have a plan and he knows it. You can't risk something going wrong and him not know what to do. Get that worked out fast Kakashi."

"It'll be resolved today. I'm going to let him sleep as long as he'd like. He needs to for his health, but also I am trying to get him to be okay with not being around Aimi all the time. I want to try and stop it before it becomes a habit and then a serious problem."

"You need to do it slowly. You don't want to risk him feeling like you are trying to take her from him. Do it slowly and if there are times he refuses don't push. His mind will need time to adjust and it is connected to his trauma that he went through. The best thing you can do is get Sasuke used to seeing other people around her and holding her. Then you can move it up to them feeding her or watching her while he takes a shower or sleeps. This is not one of those situations where you can just go cold turkey and do it all in one day. You need to be extremely careful. Sasuke won't have the hormones that women do, but that doesn't mean he couldn't get postpartum on some scale and that would result in him hording Aimi or even trying to take his own life." Tsunade warned.

"Ok so I need to re-evaluate this then. I'll do it slowly and make sure he doesn't feel like I am taking her from him. I'll be very careful with it."

"If you don't hear him awake by one I would go in there with Aimi and just place her down next to him. Even if he doesn't wake up until she does for her next feeding. He will wake up with her beside him. Normally I wouldn't suggest that, but encourage him to have her sleeping beside him during the day so he gets rest but also has her there with him. He needs that physical connection with her and it will help ease his mind if he knows she is safe right there beside him. Normally I would be telling parents the opposite, but in this case they both could use that connection. She is also small and could still become sick. Doctors have proven that having a physical connection to a premature infant helps them grow and stay healthy."

Kakashi nodded as he was trying to take in all of the information. He didn't want to do anything wrong and potentially hurt Sasuke or Aimi.

"I'll be careful and make sure they get plenty of time together to connect and Sasuke can hold her. There are a few things I need to speak to him about today and make sure we are on the same page. I don't want him hiding feelings from me."

"You need him to be as honest as possible. He is going to be feeling a lot of different emotions and some he might not even know what they are. He needs to be able to speak to you or to someone about what he is going through. You could delicately bring up him speaking with a therapist when he is ready."

"I don't know if he will agree with that, but I can bring it up and see how he feels about it."

"Speak to him and see. You might be surprised. I need to go I have missions that need to be ordered out. Let me know if he does wish to speak with a professional I will set that up for him."

"I will. Thank-you for the advice Tsunade-Sama."

Tsunade gave a nod and she headed out of the house. Kakashi closed the door and locked it behind her. He went over to the window where Pakun was jumping up on. Kakashi opened it and spoke.

"I need you to tell Kiba, Shikamaru and Neji to come here to speak with me. I have a mission for them if they are willing."

"Right away boss."

Pakun jumped down from the window sill and Kakashi closed the window. He picked up the bassinet and brought it over to the island counter top and placed it down. He placed Aimi into it so he could get something to eat while he waited for the others to arrive.

It was thirty minutes later when there was a knock on the door. Kakashi went over and opened the door. He wasn't surprised to see Kiba, Shikamaru and Neji there, but he was surprised to see Naruto and Sakura there. He spoke as he opened the door wider to let them in.

"Naruto, Sakura, I didn't expect you to be here so early."

"We were all together when Pakun came by. I hope it's okay that we came here." Sakura said.

"We just wanted to check in on Sasuke and Aimi and make sure nothing happened." Naruto said.

"It's fine. I had a feeling you would be here at some point today. I can speak to you at the same time." Kakashi said as he closed the door.

He went over to the island where Aimi was still sleep. The others followed him and they all looked to see Aimi sleeping peacefully.

"How did she sleep last night?" Sakura asked.

"She slept very well. She was awake every two hours to eat. Sasuke was the one that didn't do so well last night." Kakashi said sadly.

"What happened?" Naruto asked with worry.

"He was fine until nine. After we put Aimi down to bed we said goodnight and two minutes alone in his room he completely broke down. He spent two hours in his room crying his heart out before he went and took care of Aimi. He turned the monitor off so I wouldn't wake up. He took care of her while he was still crying. I woke up at two this morning and checked in on Aimi. He was there in the room still crying. He cried for over five hours straight he just couldn't stop." Kakashi said sadly.

"Is he okay?" Sakura asked with hurt in her voice.

"Why did he just break down? Has he done it before?" Shikamaru asked concerned for Sasuke's mental health as well as what effect that could have on Aimi.

"He hasn't before. In the hospital that first day he woke up he had a few tears, but nothing that you could call crying. He hasn't cried in three years. The second he saw his room and his things I think that is what hit him. The reality that he is home now and safe. He's also grieving."

"Grieving for who?" Kiba asked.

"In the Sound there were other times when a surrogate was pregnant. Eleven other times. Ten of those times they didn't make it very long, but he still lost those children."

"It would still affect him, even if they were only a few weeks along. It's natural for him to feel that loss." Sakura said sadly.

"What happened to the last one?" Neji asked.

"The baby was born at thirty weeks. A boy that Sasuke named Takehiko. He died in Sasuke's arms. Orochimaru came in and took the baby and Sasuke doesn't know what happened to him."

"What?" Naruto whispered with hurt in his voice.

"No wonder he's grieving. He lost a son." Shikamaru said sadly.

"That's insane." Kiba said softly.

"There isn't anything we can do to change what happened, but there is something the three of you can do now for him." Kakashi said as he looked at Shikamaru, Kiba and Neji.

"Anything." Neji said on their behalf.

"Sasuke needs closure. He doesn't know what happened to his son. He doesn't know where he is. He needs to put this behind him and put his son to rest. I'd like for the three of you to go and try to find the baby. Akamaru will be able to sniff out the remains. If you three could bring him back then Sasuke can put him to rest and finally get closure."

"Of course, we can do that." Kiba said.

"I want to go." Naruto said.

"I know you do, so do I, but Sasuke needs you here. If someone attacks he needs your protection. I can't risk you being out of the village and either one of them getting hurt. You need to stay Naruto and do what you can for Sasuke here." Kakashi said with understanding in his voice.

"Ok, but I don't like it."

"I know. Are you three fine with going? You will be in the Sound territory. You could come across trouble."

"We can handle it. We'll bring him home." Shikamaru said.

"Ok, Shikamaru is in charge. You may want to bring something to put him in."

They nodded and did their best to get their emotions under control. They were talking about a recovery mission for a little baby. It wasn't easy for them to even think about let alone knowing they will be the ones that are going.

"There are two things that you need to know. Itachi came here around four in the morning."

"What? Did that bastard hurt them?" Naruto asked with anger.

"No he didn't. In fact he was more than prepared to kill me if I stood in his way. He has been searching for Sasuke these past three years as well. Now we don't have any hard proof just the word of Orochimaru and Itachi, but apparently Itachi was ordered to kill the Clan including Sasuke. When he didn't kill Sasuke the Council and the Third had him sent on a mission to spy on the Ataksuki and Itachi is still reporting information back to Danzou."

"And we're supposed to believe that the Third would order genocide on Konoha's most powerful Clan?" Kiba asked skeptically.

"It seems farfetched." Neji added.

"It does, but at the same time you have to ask yourself why would Orochimaru tell Sasuke that? What did he have to gain in informing Sasuke that his very powerful brother wasn't a traitor and didn't hate him? Sasuke said that there had been a few times Itachi got close to finding them and Orochimaru moved bases as fast as he could to get away from Itachi. You don't do that unless you are afraid." Kakashi said.

"Thinking non-biasedly, if the Third was just a normal leader and not someone we all knew and respected it would make sense logically to eliminate the Uchiha Clan." Shikamaru said.

"How do you figure that?" Kiba asked.

"Ya I mean they were the most powerful in the village. Wouldn't you want to do everything you could to keep them here and alive?" Naruto asked.

"You could argue both points." Neji said.

"You keep them around because of the protection and prestige that their name brings your village. On the other side of it though if they ever thought about going against Konoha you have a Clan that you might not be able to beat. Villagers would die and the village could be destroyed in the war. It's a huge risk. If the Third did order this genocide he must have had some level of doubt in the Uchiha Clan and their loyalties." Shikamaru said.

"It's possible that Fugaku and the Uchiha's Council were looking to take Konoha over. After Madara went against Konoha back in the third ninja war there was some extreme tension with the remaining Uchiha's. It's how the Compound came around and the underlining rules. No Uchiha could be on the ANBU or even a superior Jounin. They had the police station to help with civil disputes. They are a Clan based on family love, but more strongly pride. You get too many hotheaded and arrogant male Uchiha's in one room they could have come up with a plan to strike back against the village. Tsunade has been informed by me of this earlier this morning. She is going to look into it and see what she can find. In the meantime Sasuke trusts Itachi he even showed him Aimi. And Itachi didn't even hesitate to tell Sasuke he was proud of him and to ask what her name was. There was nothing but love in Itachi's eyes, an emotion he isn't capable of being able to fake. Itachi loves them both and if they die he will lose all control he has on this world."

"Ya but he killed his whole family. How can he love Sasuke and not love the rest of his family?" Kiba asked confused.

"You don't always love everyone in your family. We all have those family members that we love more than others. The ones we don't want to live without. It could just be Sasuke is the only person for Itachi and now Aimi." Shikamaru said.

"Doesn't that make him too unstable to be in the village?" Naruto asked.

"Not as long as Sasuke and Aimi are alive." Sakura said.

"He tried to kill me though. Like he really tried." Naruto said.

"I know and I'm not telling you to go anywhere with him or trust him. Sasuke asked me to trust him and that is what I am doing, but also making sure this story checks out. There is a story between Sasuke and Itachi, they were very close growing up, more so than I even realised. Whatever Itachi felt for his parents wasn't full love and it eventually turned to just nothing. His love for Sasuke has only gotten stronger as each day passes. For now be cautious if you cross paths, I doubt you will but still be careful." Kakashi said.

"We'll make sure we don't cross paths with him until we have confirmation on this story." Shikamaru said.

"What was the second thing?" Sakura asked.

"Itachi gave Aimi and Sasuke a gift last night. He gave them Surabi, a two year old panther he has been training."

"Wait what? Like a real one?" Naruto asked.

"She is very much alive. She will work as protection for Sasuke and Aimi, but also be very good for Sasuke's trauma and healing from it all. She won't even leave his side. Tsunade has approved Surabi staying here in the village. I just didn't want you to be shocked or try to attack her if you see her."

"Is she safe to have her around Aimi?" Sakura asked with concern.

"She is very tame and she is trained with ninja skills. Itachi's had her for two years. She went right over to Sasuke the second she was summoned and she hasn't left his side since. She'll keep them safe and I am going to keep up with her training as well. Don't try and hurt Sasuke or Aimi and you'll be fine."

"Well animals are good for people who have been through a trauma. We take a few of our pups down to the hospital to visit people that have been through something tragic. It helps put them in a better mood. Having Surabi around Sasuke would be good for his mental health." Kiba said.

"It's also some peace of mind. If you weren't here Sasuke would have the extra protection in case something happens." Neji said.

"Exactly." Kakashi said.

"I don't trust Itachi, not until I have some proof of what Sasuke was told. But I trust Sasuke so I won't say anything to him about it or try and fight Itachi." Naruto said.

"For now it would be best if everyone avoided Itachi. You shouldn't come across him when you are out on your mission, but if you do just walk away. Don't try and fight him, if he is in fact on our side and on a mission we don't need anyone getting hurt because he has to save face and play a role. If he is alone, just tell him what you are doing and he'll let you go."

"And if we come across any Sound Ninjas?" Kiba asked.

"I can't tell you what to do. I will say this, if it was me and it didn't jeopardize the mission I would take out as many of them as I came across." Kakashi said in a deadly voice.

The others gave a nod and Shikamaru spoke.

"Do you have a plan yet in case the village is attacked? Where Sasuke and Aimi would go?"

"I have to speak to him about it today. Tsunade has ANBU now out in the forest around here as of this morning. We need to have a place that Sasuke can take Aimi to if he is in danger. It's not a matter of if Konoha is attacked, it's a matter of when. They won't let Sasuke get away, Kabuto won't allow Orochimaru's death to go unpunished. He'll come to kill Sasuke and to kidnap Aimi to continue with Orochimaru's plans." Kakashi said.

"A female Uchiha would mean that once she was twelve maybe eleven she could become pregnant and produce more Uchiha's. If Kabuto gave her hormone treatments she could become pregnant as young as eight years old." Sakura said.

"We won't let that bastard get a hold of either of them." Naruto said with determination.

"When Kabuto attacks I need you close by. If I can't beat him then you are our only hope. Naruto, if I can't beat Kabuto you need to fight him and kill him. I know you've never killed before and I'll teach you how to do it quickly. If you don't kill him he will never stop coming after the both of them. You have to be prepared to kill him for Sasuke and Aimi." Kakashi said in a serious voice.

"I'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe." Naruto said with determination.

"I'll train you on how to kill quickly and effectively. We can do it in the backyard."

"We'll head out and start our mission. If we don't have anything within the next week we will head back in." Shikamaru said.

"Be careful, all of you." Kakashi said.

"You as well." Neji said.

"Thanks for doing this." Naruto said to them.

"Don't thank us just yet, we might not be able to accomplish this mission." Shikamaru said.

"We'll try our best and hopefully we can give Sasuke some closure." Kiba said.

"I appreciate you three doing this for him." Kakashi said.

"He would do the same for us." Shikamaru said.

"We'll see you when we get back." Kiba said.

"Good luck." Sakura said.

The three of them headed out of the house and down the path towards their homes so they could get ready to head out. Naruto and Sakura stayed to be there with Sasuke and Aimi for a little while. They weren't going to be going on missions any time soon as they wanted to be here to help Sasuke out with Aimi and help keep him safe. For the next two hours Kakashi took Naruto out in the backyard to train on how to kill someone. Sakura stayed inside with Aimi while she slept. They came back inside when Kakashi needed to feed Aimi. The three of them just relaxed for the next thirty minutes. Aimi had woken up and been changed and fed once again and was currently sleeping in Kakashi's arms. It was just after noon when Sasuke's bedroom door opened. They saw Sasuke coming down the hallway and to the stairs. They saw that Surabi was with him and walking slowly next to Sasuke. Sasuke held onto the railing for the stairs and slowly made his way down them. His body was still in a lot of pain and the stairs hurt the most. Surabi stayed right next to Sasuke as he went down the stairs. Naruto got up off the couch and went over to the stairs and up to where Sasuke was.

"Here let me help you." Naruto said as he went to place a gentle hand on Sasuke's right arm when Surabi let out a growl that had Naruto snapping his hand back.

"It's okay he's a friend." Sasuke said to Surabi and petted her head.

Surabi moved over so Naruto could get to Sasuke. He gently helped to get Sasuke down the stairs as he spoke.

"Some guard you got there." Naruto said with a smile.

"She was a gift." Sasuke said as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

Naruto helped Sasuke to get to the couch and Sasuke sat down as Surabi sat down on the floor right next to Sasuke.

"You okay?" Naruto asked.

"Ya thanks. Stairs are a little hard right now." Sasuke said with a shaky voice from the pain. Sasuke looked over at Kakashi and at Aimi that was asleep in his arms.

"She is doing very well. I was going to come and wake you up in an hour if I didn't see you. Are you alright to hold her or do you need a minute to get the pain down?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"I'm good."

Kakashi smiled and he moved to place Aimi down in Sasuke's arms. She wiggled a little bit before she stilled and was back asleep.

"She ate thirty minutes ago. She got up at nine and has been sleeping when she isn't eating. Tsunade came by this morning and checked her out, she's still perfectly healthy. How are you feeling?"

"My head is a little weird, fuzzy, but Tsunade said that would happen."

"It will happen quite often Sasuke. It's just until your brain has the chance to heal itself. Every day it will get better and you'll feel better." Sakura said with a warm smile.

Sasuke just gave a distant nod as he looked down at Aimi. He felt Surabi place her head down on his knee and try to offer some comfort. Kakashi figured now would be a good time to talk about business.

"Son, I told Tsunade, Naruto and Sakura about Itachi and Surabi here. Tsunade is going to look into this more and see if she can find any paperwork on it. For now she is going to hold judgement until she can find something solid. She is also going to allow you to keep Surabi and I will keep up with her training."

"And if there isn't any paper proof?" Sasuke asked as he looked at Kakashi.

"We'll figure that out if that happens. You said Orochimaru told you."

"He showed me the mission order signed by everyone involved."

"Then I am sure it will all work out. He is going to continue with his mission and hopefully soon we can put an end to all of this. We do need to go over some safety measures though. Are you feeling up to that?" Kakashi asked with concern.

Sasuke gave a nod and Kakashi continued on.

"I wouldn't be doing you any good lying to you. I need you to understand the seriousness of the situation we are in. You know Kabuto will be getting the Sound together to come after you. It's not a matter of if he does, it's when he does. We need to be prepared for that day. Tsunade will have ANBU placed in the forest around the house, but that doesn't make it safe. Do you know of a place within the village that you could take Aimi to and hide out for safety if we have to Son?" Kakashi asked seriously.

"I do actually. The temple. Everyone that knows it's location is dead except for Itachi." Sasuke said.

"What if someone found it? Even through a Jitsu to find your charka?" Kakashi asked.

"It's hidden from any Jitsu. It's an old ancient temple that no one even knows exists really. Not even the Council knows of it's existence. The only way to even open it's door is through Uchiha blood. A small amount and it will open the door. So even if someone did find it and I was inside they couldn't get in, not even posing as you. Your own blood would work to open it because of your eye. Obito's blood mixed with yours giving you enough Uchiha DNA in you for it to open."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.

"Father and the Uchiha Council fought about it once when Itachi started to get closer to you. They were worried you were poisoning his mind so he would lead you to the temple. Your blood would give you access to it."

"And a clone keeps their own blood so no one could get in but the three of us. Good we can use the temple as a secret safe spot for you and Aimi."

"What temple?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked over at Kakashi to see what he should be doing. He didn't know if he should be telling them about the temple or not, but at the same time they might find out by being with him one day.

"It's your decision. It's your story to tell Son." Kakashi said gently.

"Sasuke, you know you can trust us with anything. We would never do anything to hurt you or Aimi or put either of you at risk. Anything you tell us would stay between us we promise." Sakura said calmly.

"It's a little bit of a long story." Sasuke started.

"We got all the time in the world. We're not going anywhere Sasuke." Naruto said honestly.

"A long time ago there were the Greats. People considered them to be Gods. It's believed that each powerful Clan that came into this world were ancestors of one of those Gods. Some were proven to be true and others have never found the proof they need to back up the claim. A rare two Clans were proven that they were direct descendants of not one, but two Gods that fell in love. They then produced more Gods until they were diluted with other DNA from spouses and eventually died off. The three oldest children were male and it was told that they were the most powerful. My Clan was one of the two Clans. I don't know who the other was, I don't know if anyone in the world knows. A lot of secrets died with the last of the Gods." Sasuke started.

"What made them Gods?" Sakura asked.

"Their ninja abilities. They were some of the first to ever be able to use Jitsus and they created them. Each person could be traced back to a God, but it could be thousands of years of a family tree and you might only be connected to a God through marriage or a very distant cousin, not even remotely close enough for it to count for anything. There was an old tale about how the three brothers were close to each other until the middle brother went against everything that the Gods stood for. He created his own army with followers and other Gods that were sick of the system. The two brothers had to fight their brother in order to save the world. It was said that one day that God would come down on this world and destroy it. That only the reincarnated two brothers would be able to strike the God down and save the world once again." Kakashi explained.

"When would that happen?" Naruto asked.

"No idea. The tale didn't get into that and it's very hard to have any knowledge on this topic and to get the complete truth. It's been told and passed down from generation and generation over the last three thousand years. If there is any truth in the tale is still debatable. It was said that the two power Clans each held a secret book with all of the techniques from the Gods. Techniques that were special to those Clans were also in each Clan's book, but kept out of the other's." Kakashi continued.

"Have the books ever been found?" Naruto asked interested.

"There's no proof that there was ever two books. Even if one was found they were written on special paper. They would remain blank unless one of the reincarnated held the book and their Chaka would activate the pages in the book." Kakashi explained further.

"So even if a book was found, the chances of finding anyone who would be able to read it would be next to impossible." Sakura said.

"Basically." Kakashi agreed.

"But how does this relate to some temple that Sasuke knows?" Naruto asked confused.

"The Uchiha Clan was one of the two power Clans. A thousand years ago when my Clan relocated to Konoha they built the compound over a secret temple. It was the temple that my descendants used to use. The temple of Gods. The Clan built the Compound over the temple to protect it and keep all of it's scrolls and knowledge hidden from enemies. One of the two books were passed down from generation throughout my Clan. They kept it there to keep safe and hidden from any of the God's followers from destroying it. It's believed that even to this day the God has loyal followers searching all over the world for these two books so they can be destroyed. With them destroyed those two that could read them would never be able to and as a result they wouldn't be able to stop the God." Sasuke said.

"Wait, these books are real? You've seen one?" Sakura asked.

"It's kept safe in the temple along with other ancient scrolls and hidden Jitsus long forgotten. For the past thousand years the book has been given to promising ninja within the Clan to see if one of them would be able to read the book. None have been able to. I was four when they brought the book late one night to the house. They all believed Itachi would be it. He was going to be the chosen one. When he touched the book nothing happened. Everyone was really disappointed. Itachi told my father that he wanted to keep the book overnight to try and see if he could get it to work with his chakra. He agreed to let Itachi try not ready to give up hope that his pride and joy would be the chosen one. Once everyone was gone to bed Itachi snuck into my room. I wasn't supposed to be listening to the conversation earlier. He knew I was though. He came in with the book and he sat down on the bed and told me that he knew it wouldn't work for him. He's always just known. He gave me the book and instantly it started to glow and charka came out of it. The words began to appear on the pages to me. He told me the second he held me he knew I was special. I thought he would be mad, but he wasn't. He was proud and really worried. We both agreed I was too young and we could never tell anyone. He took the book back and in the morning my father placed it back in the temple." Sasuke explained.

"Wait you are one of the reincarnated Gods?" Naruto asked amazed.

"I don't know. All I know is that I can read the book and I have in the past. After the Clan's death I would go into the temple and study the book and other scrolls. I never told anyone, not until yesterday when I told Dad."

"The point in all of this is that the Temple would be the safest place for them to be when the attack comes." Kakashi said.

"That's amazing though. Does this mean that the second book truly does exist?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe. There is a lot in the book. I haven't read everything in it. I focused on the techniques and not the lengthy history. I never had an interest in it before. I might read it though now just out of curiosity." Sasuke said.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea. If there is still a second book out there it might give you information on it or who the other Clan was." Kakashi said.

"What about if you were holding the book, could someone read it that way?" Sakura asked.

"No it's only visible to my eyes." Sasuke said.

"Could you learn a technique from the book and then teach it to someone?" Naruto asked.

"I think so. But I don't know if there would be any techniques that a normal ninja would be able to do." Sasuke said.

"Have you tried any?" Naruto asked.

"I have read the techniques once I got my Sharigan. I have used a number of them out in the forest at night. I've never used them against someone just did it to see if I could." Sasuke answered.

"Say if there is two books still out there. Sasuke is a reincarnated God, for all argument purposes and simplicity. You said that these two Clans were the strongest and the only two to ever have such a strong power from being born out of two Gods. In a thousand years there hasn't been another Uchiha able to read the book. Couldn't you argue that it's for a reason that now an Uchiha has finally been able to read this book? Maybe this tale has more truth to it than just some bedtime story." Sakura said with worry.

"Even if you go with that theory there is no guarantee when that would even happen. Sasuke could be in his forties when this God reappears." Kakashi said.

"Hey maybe the second one has been reincarnated too. Maybe they are supposed to fight this God together." Naruto suggested.

"I don't know. I would have to read the book and learn the history more in depth to know how it might even work. Or what was speculated for it to work. The Clans could hate each other right now. Three thousand years is a long time." Sasuke said.

"How did they die out?" Sakura asked.

"That I don't have the answer to. No one has it. It might be in the book. It was believed that the very last descendant of the Gods wrote in the books their final days before the books were hidden. Sasuke would really need to read the book for us to have any form of answers to any of this." Kakashi said.

"Maybe we should take Aimi out and go to the temple." Sasuke suggested.

"You feel well enough to go?" Kakashi asked with concern.

"I feel terrible, but if we wait until I stop feeling terrible we might never go. And you need to know where it is so you can find us." Sasuke said.

"We need to have some kind of secret password here too. Because what if you are in the temple and waiting for Kakashi to come and get you and he is unconscious or worse. We need a way that you would know it was us and not someone else on the other side of the door." Sakura said.

"Not a long one like last time." Naruto instantly said.

"No something that only we would know. Something no one would be able to guess." Sakura said.

"Ok so what is something that only we would know?" Naruto asked.

"Something personal. What's something one of us hasn't told anyone before? Something personal and only we would ever know." Sakura said.

"I can't think of anything. I mean nothing really personal that would be worth telling. People know a lot about me and anything really personal I would have told Iruka." Naruto said.

"I would have told my parents or Ino." Sakura said.

"There is only one thing I can think of that no one else would know about. There are others, but Itachi either knows it or someone else does. It's not really a happy memory though." Sasuke said sadly as he looked down at Aimi.

"You don't have to tell us Sasuke if you don't want to." Naruto instantly said.

"Sasuke." Kakashi started, but Sasuke cut him off.

"It happened a long time ago. I just never told anyone." Sasuke said knowing that Kakashi was thinking about something more recent.

"Naruto is right Sasuke you don't have to tell us if it's too painful for you." Sakura said.

"Trust me, out of all of the painful memories that I have that one rates pretty low on the scale now." Sasuke said sadly as he sat back more to try and get comfortable on the couch with his sore body.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to put her down so you can rest your body?" Kakashi asked gently.

"No I have her." Sasuke instantly said.

"Ok Son." Kakashi said with a warm smile.

"It ah… It happened when I was just five. Ever since that night with the book father had been acting weird towards me. He was angry more. Him and Itachi would argue a lot, but in hush voices in empty rooms. I thought it was about the book and what had happened. That maybe father was pushing him to try again or something. Turns out I wasn't fully wrong, just not fully right. One night about six months after that whole night Itachi went on a mission and mother was gone out of town. It was almost time for me to go to bed so he told me to take a bath. He came in five minutes later just ranting and raving. I couldn't figure out why he was so angry with me all of a sudden. He kept telling me that it was my fault Itachi would never reach his full potential. That I was corrupting him and I wouldn't take his son away from him. I don't understand really even to this day where it came from." Sasuke started.

"Your father was always blinded by Itachi and his power. Fugaku only ever wanted power and if he couldn't have it through his own body he was going to have it by being right there next to the person who did have it. Itachi was strong for his age, incredibly powerful and Fugaku latched himself to Itachi like a leach. He could have seen that your relationship would hold him back from him being human around you. You brought out his emotions. To Fugaku that was holding Itachi back when it was making him stronger." Kakashi said with his own hatred towards Fugaku.

"That makes sense. At one point he looked at me and then he just attacked. He held me under the water and tried to kill me. I banged my head against the side of the tub as I tried to fight him off. At one point I passed out and when I came to I was on the floor and Itachi was over me. He was crying so hard. It was the only time I had ever seen him full out crying. He pulled me into a hug and I don't know how long we sat there on the floor just crying. After he got himself calmed down he looked at the back of my head and saw that I had banged it open slightly. He got me dried off and dressed. He took care of my head and took me into his room. I asked what happened and he told me that he got finished his mission early. He came upstairs and father was there in the hallway. Itachi came into the bathroom to help me wash my hair and he found me under the water. He pulled me out and had to push down on my chest to get the water out so I could breathe. I was out for two minutes before I coughed up the water and could breathe again." Sasuke said sadly at the pain of the memory.

"Sasuke, you never told him that Fugaku tried to kill you?" Kakashi said sadly.

"He asked what happened and I just… I couldn't get the words out. I was five. I didn't understand the situation or what could happen if I kept quiet. All I knew was that my father tried to kill me and somehow it was my fault. I know now that it wasn't my fault, that I didn't do anything wrong. But at the time I was afraid of losing the one person I ever really had. So I lied and said that father left for a minute to get something and I slipped and hit my head. That I didn't remember anything after that."

"Sasuke he could have tried again to kill you." Kakashi said with concern.

"He never did. He didn't say a single word to me for six months afterwards. He would barely look at me." Sasuke said.

"Maybe he was ashamed." Sakura said.

"No he wasn't. I know he wasn't. The few times he did look at me there was nothing but hatred in his eyes. After the whole incident Itachi refused to go on missions for six weeks. That made father even angrier. But Itachi refused to leave me on my own. Him and father fought over it all the time. Itachi said he couldn't be trusted to look after me. It took six weeks for me to finally convince him that I would be fine if he left for a mission. I never told him the truth. Maybe if I had things would have turned out differently." Sasuke said slightly sadly.

"You don't know what he would have done with that information Sasuke. You were only five years old it shouldn't have happened to begin with. Anything could have happened if you told Itachi the truth that night. He might not be alive today if you did. You might not be alive today and you would never have had this beautiful little girl." Kakashi said with a warm smile.

Sasuke looked down at Aimi and he couldn't help, but smile at her. She was sleeping peacefully with her tiny thumb half in her mouth and half hanging out. She was beautiful and Sasuke didn't know if he would have traded never going through the Sound for her. She was the whole reason Sasuke had fought to survive and his reason for finally standing up to Orochimaru. Without her Sasuke would have still been in his torturous world just waiting to die. Now he had Aimi and he was back in Konoha with his true father and family.

"Ya and we love this little one. It doesn't matter how she came into this world she's my niece and nothing would change that." Naruto said in a serious voice.

"She's amazing Sasuke." Sakura said with a warm smile.

Sasuke could feel guilt eating away inside of him. They didn't know the truth at all about how she came into the world. Part of Sasuke was terrified to tell them the truth, but the other part of him was screaming at himself to tell them the truth. That they deserved the truth about what really happened to make Aimi even exist. They were the ones most likely to fight Kabuto and it might come out from him what truly happened. He didn't want them finding out like that in the middle of battle where they would be taken off guard and could be hurt. Sasuke's face turned serious and they could see the worry on his face mixed in.

"Son, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked gently as Sasuke was still looking down at Aimi.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked with concern.

"I lied to you both or Dad did on my behalf." Sasuke said still looking at Aimi's sleeping face.

"Son look at me please." Kakashi said gently.

Sasuke lifted his head and looked at Kakashi.

"You don't have to tell anyone the story. It's still too painful for you and it's no one's business but yours." Kakashi said with strength in his voice.

"Kabuto will mention it. You know he will. I don't want them hurt in battle for being blindsided. They don't deserve that. Even if it means they leave." Sasuke said sadly.

"Son, they will never leave especially because of this. It won't change anything deep down you know that. They love you and they love Aimi the rest doesn't matter. It's your story to tell and I will gladly continue to lie for you because this is one of the stories that only you have the right to share." Kakashi said with complete love in his voice.

"Sasuke whatever it is that you feel you should tell us you can. We're not going anywhere. But if it's too painful we don't want you to tell us. We don't want you to go through any more pain than you already are." Sakura said calmly.

"Nothing you have to tell us will change that we love you both. Nothing Sasuke. Besides anything Kabuto might tell us I doubt it would shock us that much. I mean we know Aimi was born from a surrogate and is Kakashi's niece. What big shock would Kabuto have to say about Aimi?" Naruto said with a shrug.

"More than you think." Sasuke said sadly as it was clearly a painful memory.

"Sasuke you don't have to tell us if it's too painful. We don't want you hurt or upset any more than you already are really. If something comes up we'll handle it. We obviously know that bastard did something to you to get what he needed to make Aimi even possible. It doesn't change how we feel about you." Naruto said seeing how much pain this was causing Sasuke even thinking about it.

A single tear rolled down Sasuke's cheek at just the thought of the things that Orochimaru had done to him. Sasuke wished that was the worst thing Orochimaru did to him, but it truly wasn't.

"It's not about that. It's worse or maybe it's not. Is it worse?" Sasuke asked confused as he looked at Kakashi.

"I don't know Sasuke. It's not an easy question to answer because we have this beautiful girl that came from all of it. I don't think this is a situation where one is worse than the other. I think they are both tragic and traumatising and something that should never have happened to you Son." Kakashi said sadly.

Sasuke gave a distant nod and it was clear he was trying to figure it all out. Both Naruto and Sakura were terrified of what Sasuke would have to say. They both assumed he had been raped by Orochimaru. They knew he was a sick bastard and he had to of gotten Sasuke's sperm somehow. But they didn't know what could be worse or on the same level as being raped.

"Sasuke, you really don't have to tell us. It's okay we can handle Kabuto and whatever he wants to say to us." Sakura said not wanting to cause Sasuke anymore pain.

"You won't be expecting this and that could get you seriously wounded. It's just…I've never actually told anyone. Dad knew before I woke up in the hospital." Sasuke said sadly.

"Tsunade-Sama must know this as well. She must have found something when she was examining you." Sakura said trying to figure it out.

"She um… she found it when she operated on the cut on my stomach. She had to remove something." Sasuke said awkwardly and trying to just find the words to say it.

"You're not dying right?" Naruto said with fear.

"No it's nothing like that. Master…" Sasuke started, but Kakashi cut him off with a gentle voice.

"Orochimaru."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi and could see the love and gentleness in his eyes. Sasuke had referred to Orochimaru as master before in the past week and Kakashi just gently corrected him every time. It was a habit that was beaten and tortured into him and now Kakashi was just trying to get Sasuke out of that habit.

"Orochimaru. He took some of my cells and made an organ. I don't really know how." Sasuke said slightly confused.

"He would have taken your cells from your blood and skin. It would have been very difficult to grow an organ. He must have had more advance equipment then we do at the hospital. What organ did he grow? And why would he give you another one? You said Tsunade-Sama had to remove something so I'm assuming it was the organ." Sakura said trying to figure out what organ it could possibly be.

"It um… it was a uterus." Sasuke said with pain all throughout his voice.

"Wait what? Isn't that what girls have?" Naruto asked confused.

"Oh my God. The cut on your stomach. There was no surrogate." Sakura said with complete understanding in her voice and hurt.

"Well there has to be otherwise Aimi wouldn't be here." Naruto said confused.

"I'm right aren't I?" Sakura asked with hurt to Sasuke.

All Sasuke could do was gave a shaky nod yes.

"I don't understand." Naruto said clearly confused.

"I…" Sasuke started, but he just couldn't get the words out.

"It's okay I can explain Sasuke." Sakura said gently.

"Explain what?" Naruto asked now getting upset because he was clearly the only one that didn't understand what was going on.

"Sasuke was the surrogate." Sakura started, but Naruto cut her off.

"That's not possible. Only girls can have babies not boys."

"Orochimaru took Sasuke's cells and grew a uterus, what is needed to grow a baby. He then put the organ inside of Sasuke he then I am assuming implanted right?" Sakura asked as she looked at Sasuke and once she saw him nod again she continued. "He implanted a fertilized egg into the uterus that was inside of Sasuke. Just like you would do to a surrogate. The egg would either take and grow into a baby or the egg would die and the procedure wouldn't be a success. Aimi grew inside of Sasuke. The long cut on his stomach came from either him or Orochimaru cutting Aimi out when Sasuke went into labour." Sakura explained gently.

Naruto was completely shocked. He didn't know what to say to any of that. He wasn't expecting it and now Naruto could understand why Sasuke was worried about them finding out in battle. It would have been distracting and it would have caught them both off guard. Naruto looked over at Sasuke and he could see the shame in his eyes even though Sasuke refused to make eye contact with him. It was clear that Sasuke was waiting for them to tell him he was disgusting and leave him on his own. Naruto could see the fear clear in Sasuke. He didn't want to be alone in this and Naruto couldn't blame him for that. Naruto wouldn't want to be alone raising a child either especially after how Aimi came to be.

"But you both are okay right?" Naruto asked Sasuke with concern.

"They are both fine. Tsunade was able to remove the organ and she repaired any damage that the cut caused. Sasuke is the one that made the cut and took Aimi out. Orochimaru came in just seconds later and Sasuke fought him and killed him as you both know."

"Was it just once?" Naruto asked. He knew that Sasuke had lost a son, but he didn't know if that was from a surrogate or if he was the one to have him.

"There were ten others, ten other times. Nine of them didn't make it past the first three months, but one." Sasuke stopped speaking as tears started to come down his face. He tried to control them so he could speak but it was still so painful. "I had a son, Takehiko, I lost him at thirty weeks. He died in my arms." Sasuke had tears going down his face once again and he did his best to keep Aimi in his arms.

Kakashi put an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and kissed the side of his head as he spoke.

"It's okay Son."

Aimi started to squirm and wake up. Sakura got up as she spoke.

"Here Sasuke let me take her and I can feed her please." Sakura offered gently.

"It's okay let Sakura take care of her for a minute." Kakashi said hoping it would work to get Sasuke to hand over Aimi for a few minutes.

Sasuke gave a shaky nod and Sakura went over and gently took Aimi into her arms and went over to the kitchen with her to get her a bottle. Kakashi wrapped both of his arms around Sasuke and Sasuke curled into Kakashi's loving embrace.

"It's okay Son." Kakashi said soothingly as he held Sasuke close to his chest.

Surabi placed her head down in Sasuke's lap to try and offer him comfort. Naruto didn't know what to do. He wanted to hug Sasuke and tell him it would all be okay, but he just didn't know how Sasuke would react to him touching him. He also didn't know if it would all be okay. Sasuke had his own son die in his arms and even though Kiba, Shikamaru and Neji were out looking for his remains that didn't mean that they would be able to locate him. Sasuke may never get that closure that all parents needed when they lose a child. Sasuke may grieve his son's death for the rest of his life. On top of all of that a whole village was hell bent on killing not only Sasuke, but Aimi too. Sasuke could have another child die in his arms before the end of it. Naruto didn't know what to tell Sasuke to make him feel better. All he did know was that his best friend had been through hell for the past three years. A hell on a completely different level. Naruto wasn't going to let either of them be hurt anymore. He was going to protect them even if it meant he would have to kill Kabuto and anyone else that dared to threaten Sasuke and Aimi's life. Naruto never wanted to kill and he had yet to ever take a life, but he would for his family and that is exactly what Sasuke and Aimi were to him. For them he could deal with killing someone.

Sakura warmed up a bottle while Kakashi took care of Sasuke. She hated seeing Sasuke in so much pain. She wished she would have been able to find him sooner and maybe he would never have known the pain of losing a child, especially in his arms. She looked down at Aimi and could see that she wanted her bottle. Sakura couldn't believe how much this little baby had been through in her life and she was just barely over a week old. To think that Sasuke was the one that was pregnant with her. He was the one that lived in fear every second of every day for thirty-four weeks. Sakura couldn't believe it. She could understand fully why Sasuke didn't want that getting out. Even though she knew their group wouldn't care, they would be supportive of Sasuke. It was the other people in the world that you just didn't know how they would react. They could try and kill Sasuke and Aimi because of it or worse they could try to capture Sasuke to force him to do it all over again. He was an Uchiha and if he could reproduce children then there was no telling what someone would try to do to him. What happened to Sasuke didn't change how Sakura felt about him or what she thought of him. He was a survivor and he survived the hell he had gone through in the past three years. She wasn't going to leave him on his own to deal with this. She was stronger now and she would protect both Sasuke and Aimi from anyone that dared to hurt them.

It took fifteen minutes before Sasuke was able to calm down and stop the tears. He wiped his cheeks to get rid of the tears. Sakura came back down the stairs after changing Aimi and feeding her. Surabi continued to sit right next to Sasuke to offer comfort.

"Sorry." Sasuke said with a shaky voice.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for Sasuke." Naruto simply said.

"Nothing changes any of this Sasuke. We still love the both of you and we will still be here for you. It just makes Aimi more special." Sakura said with a smile.

"I can't believe you're okay with this." Sasuke said amazed and shocked.

"Why wouldn't we be? We're family nothing could ever change that." Naruto said with strength in his voice.

"We'll always be there for you Sasuke. Now I think it would be really good for you and Aimi to get outside for a bit. I know you just got here last night, but it's not good for you to be cooped up inside all day and night either. You are dealing with a lot right now and being out in the sun is good for you." Sakura said.

"Is it safe for Aimi to be outside around people though? Couldn't she get sick?" Sasuke asked with worry.

"She won't be in direct contact with anyone so she'll be safe. It's good for her to be out in the sun, you too. You need the vitamins from the sun as well. It'll help turn your eyes back to normal color and get rid of the yellow tint to them." Sakura explained.

"We can take Surabi as well. I have a spare collar and leash that we can use for her." Kakashi said with a warm smile.

"Do we have to use a leash on her?" Sasuke asked clearly not sure how he felt about keeping Surabi on a leash.

"I think while we are out in the village we should just for a little while. We don't know how she is going to react to the villagers. I spoke to Tsunade about her and she was fine with it, but she's not real happy about it. I just don't want Surabi thinking someone is a threat to you or Aimi and attack someone. It's just for a little while until she gets used to being outside around other people and we can train her and see how strong she is." Kakashi explained.

"Ok that's fair." Sasuke agreed.

"Hopefully she doesn't mind." Naruto said as he looked down still unsure of the panther.

"It should be fine. I will go and grab them. Do you want to try out the stroller for her?" Kakashi asked.

"No I'll carry her." Sasuke said.

"Ok. She needs a clean blanket I'll grab it at the same time."

Sasuke gave a nod and Kakashi got up and headed up the stairs to get those three things.

"Sasuke why don't you get your coat and shoes on and then I'll hand her back to you." Sakura said with a warm smile.

Sasuke got up and Surabi followed beside him over to the front door as he put his shoes and coat on. He went over to Sakura and took Aimi just as Kakashi was coming down the stairs with the items. He placed the blanket down on the couch so Sasuke could wrap Aimi up in it. Sasuke wrapped Aimi up and Kakashi went over to Surabi and spoke.

"Alright you don't know me and I don't know you, but I would appreciate it if you didn't try and eat me when I put this on you."

Kakashi went and placed the collar around Surabi's neck and she let out a low rumble in her throat.

"Hey listen I know it's not fun, but it's just for a little while. This way you can come out with Sasuke and Aimi. I promise later we can go out into the backyard and train. I'll teach you some new tricks. I just need you to wear this outside." Kakashi tried to reason.

The rumble stopped and Kakashi figured he had made peace with Surabi. He buckled the collar and then attached the leash, both were black as well. Kakashi then stood back up and saw that Sasuke had Aimi held in his arms and they were ready to go. They headed to the door and Kakashi put his shoes on before they headed out and Kakashi locked the door. They headed down the street to go to the Uchiha Compound where the hidden temple was located. Surabi was very well behaved and Kakashi was pleased with her. They got a lot of looks from having a panther walking around on a leash, but no one dared to say anything to them and for that Kakashi was thankful. He truly didn't want to see what would happen if Surabi felt that Sasuke or Aimi were threatened. He knew the thin material leash wouldn't do much against her natural strength, but it would at least give the illusion that Surabi was under control. Kakashi knew he would have to take her out in the backyard and see just what she was capable of. He just didn't know how he was going to do it with Aimi and Sasuke inside the house. Kakashi figured they could be outside, but too much sun on either of them and they could get sunburn, something that would not be fun for a newborn. Kakashi would just bring the baby monitor out with him so he could hear it if Aimi woke up.

They walked to the Compound and once there they followed Sasuke as he led them towards the hidden temple. It was in the far outskirts of the Compound and hidden underneath the Uchiha Council's Headquarters. Once inside the building Sasuke spoke to Kakashi.

"Hold her for a second please."

"Of course." Kakashi took Aimi from Sasuke and Sasuke looked to Naruto.

"I need a kunai."

Naruto pulled one out of his pouch as he spoke. "Why?"

Sasuke took it as he spoke. "It needs to be blood to open the temple so only an Uchiha can open the doorway."

Sasuke cut a small line on his left palm, just enough to get it to bleed before he passed the kunai back to Naruto. Sasuke went to a tablet that was hanging on the wall and placed his hand against it. The wall rumbled and moved back just slightly. It was just enough that a small staircase became visible. It was pitch dark inside though.

"How are we going to see?" Sakura asked.

"Give it a second." Sasuke said.

It took five seconds before the torches that lined the wall began to light. It wasn't very bright, but it was enough for them to be able to see where they were going. Sasuke took Aimi back and lead the way down the stairs. Kakashi could feel Surabi going to attention and becoming tense. It was clear that she didn't like going down into the dark where anything could happen. It made Kakashi happy to see that she truly was protective of Sasuke and Aimi, even though she had only met them last night. They walked down the stairs and into the temple. Once there they could see the four walls were lined with books and scrolls. There was a large scripture right in the middle of the back wall with a book sitting on a podium. Sasuke went over to the book as Sakura spoke.

"This is unbelievable."

"It's amazing." Kakashi said.

"Think of all the Jitsus you could learn from these books and scrolls. Can anyone read them or only you?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke spoke as he picked up the book with his right hand. "Anyone. They were here when the temple was discovered. Some go back thousands of years. This is the book that only I can read."

The others looked at the black book that was in Sasuke's hand. It was worn out from thousands of years in existence, but it wasn't so damned that you couldn't open it and read. They could see the black chakra starting to swirl around the book and Sasuke's hand. Surabi let out a growl and Sasuke looked down at her and spoke.

"It's okay, it's not hurting me. It's just reacting to me."

"Will it do that every time?" Naruto asked.

"Every time I pick it up. It'll stop in a second and then the words will appear to me on the pages. If I put it down the pages will remain blank."

"And we couldn't read it if you were holding it?" Sakura asked.

"Itachi couldn't see the words the first time I did this. It's only my eyes and my chakra." Sasuke answered as the black chakra stopped.

"And the history is in the book?" Kakashi asked.

"It is. I've never read it though."

"Maybe you'll be able to get some answers from the history or maybe if the second God will reincarnate too at the same time as you." Sakura said.

"Or maybe where the other temple is located." Naruto said.

"I'll read it and find out. For now the three of you know where the temple is located." Sasuke said.

"Will you be able to hear someone upstairs?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes there is an echo down here when someone is upstairs. I'll be able to hear everything."

"Good this place is a great place for you to hide out in if you need to." Kakashi said.

"You have to have Uchiha blood in you in order to open the hidden door." Sasuke said.

"Good then we won't have to worry about anyone sneaking up on us. What are you going to do with all of these books and scrolls?" Naruto asked.

"Leave them here. It's safer for them to be here then out where someone could grab them. Most of these Jitsus are dangerous if the wrong person were to learn them." Sasuke said.

"It time to head back home. You are still weak Son you need rest." Kakashi said with concern in his voice. He could see that moving around more was giving Sasuke some pain.

Sasuke gave a nod and they all made their way up the stairs. Sasuke went slowly as they still hurt quite a bit and Naruto stood beside him to help him in case his legs gave out. They got out of the temple and back out to the road. Naruto and Sakura walked with Kakashi and Sasuke back to their house just in case something happened. They knew that Sasuke needed rest and some time to adjust to being back. They didn't want to overcrowd him and have him feeling like he couldn't be on his own or relax. Once back at the house Naruto and Sakura said their goodbyes and headed out. Sasuke sat down on the couch and placed Aimi in the bassinet that was still on the coffee table. His body was sore and he was shaky slightly from it. Kakashi removed the collar and leash from Surabi as he spoke.

"You need a pill Son."

"Where are they?" Sasuke asked with a shaky voice.

"I'll get it for you. They are in the bathroom." Kakashi said as he went towards the stairs.

Surabi came over to Sasuke and sat down beside him. She put a paw on his leg and Sasuke petted her as he spoke.

"I'm okay. I just need a minute to get the pain under control."

Kakashi came back down the stairs and went into the kitchen to get Sasuke a glass of water. Once he had the water he went over to Sasuke and handed him the pain pill and the glass.

"Thanks."

Sasuke took the pill and drank half of the water.

"Are you hungry? You haven't eaten yet today."

"I'm a little hungry."

"I'll make us something. Anything you feel like?" Kakashi asked as he headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"What is there?" Sasuke asked as he tried to sit back to help relieve the pain in his stomach from his organs moving.

"Chicken fried rice, chicken and mushrooms, pasta, low mien, wonton soup."

"Soup sounds good."

"I'll warm some up." Kakashi said with a warm smile. He took out the container and grabbed a pot so he could warm some of the soup up for Sasuke and himself. "How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked with concern as he saw that Sasuke was in pain.

"My stomach hurts the most right now. It's nothing I'm not used to."

"Is it bad?" Kakashi asked with concern.

"No just uncomfortable. It'll go away soon. I don't think it helps that my stomach seems to have woken up and is interested in food again."

"Your body has gotten used to not eating much or anything at all. Now that you are it's hungry all the time. It's important for you to start off slow like you have been. Tsunade said that your organs would go back to normal within two months. If it gets really bad you need to tell me, because something could be wrong." Kakashi said in a serious voice.

"I will Dad. I can't believe they are standing by me still."

Kakashi walked over to Sasuke and sat down on the coffee table in front of him before he spoke. "They love you and they love Aimi. Nothing else matters than that. I know it's hard for you to understand and accept right now and it's going to take some time, but what happened to you is not your fault. You are not to blame for what Orochimaru did to you and forced onto you. None of us could hold anything that happened to you against you or Aimi. We love you both and that would never change."

"It's going to take some time for my mind to process that. I don't feel better, but I do at the same time for telling them the truth. Like there isn't this huge secret between us."

"It's good that you told them. I'm really proud of you Sasuke. I know it was hard, but it was something you desperately needed and you got to see that they won't leave you. I'm very proud of you Son."

"Thanks Dad." Sasuke said with a small smile.

Kakashi looked over at Aimi and saw that she was sound asleep. "She's doing really well."

"She is. I forgot how good it feels to be out in the sun. I'm so used to the darkness and being cold. I missed the sun."

"You should be out in it more often. It'll help you heal. I thought after lunch I would take Surabi out into the backyard and see what she can do. If you feel up to it you could sit outside."

"Maybe. I want to read the book too. I'll see how I feel after lunch."

"You can go outside anytime you want. The soup should be warm now. Do you want anything with it?" Kakashi asked as he got up and headed into the kitchen.

"No thanks."

Kakashi grabbed two bowls from the cupboard and poured some of the soup into them. He grabbed spoons and headed back to the living room. He handed Sasuke his bowl before he sat down on the chair. They ate their soup and afterwards Kakashi brought the dishes into the kitchen while Sasuke got Aimi a bottle ready as she was starting to wake up. Once Aimi had been fed and changed Kakashi looked over at Surabi.

"Well girl I guess we better go outside and see what you can do."

Surabi wagged her tail and got down in a pounce position. It was clear that she wanted to play and was waiting for when she could go outside and be free.

"I think she wants to play. Are you sure you know how to train her?" Sasuke asked a little worried about Kakashi training a panther.

"I'll be fine. I've trained many hounds in my time I'll get her trained. I'll see what Itachi taught her first and go from there. What about you?"

"I'm going to stay here and read. I might fall asleep though." Sasuke said and Kakashi could see the exhaustion clear on his face.

"I'll grab you a pillow and blanket that way if you do fall asleep you'll be comfortable." Kakashi said with a smile as he got up.

"I can grab them you don't have to."

"I know, but you are in pain and I like taking care of you. Just relax and let me take care of you for a little while Son."

Sasuke gave an unsure nod and Kakashi gave him a warm smile back. He knew that Sasuke was not used to this as no one had taken care of him since he was a little boy before the Clan was destroyed. Kakashi understood that it would take some time for Sasuke to get used to having Kakashi there for him and helping him out. Kakashi headed up the stairs and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the linen closet before he headed back down the stairs. He placed the pillow down against the arm of the couch so if Sasuke wanted to lay down he could. Kakashi put the blanket down on the couch as well.

"Are you going to be okay?" Kakashi asked with concern.

"I'll be fine Dad. You're just going to be in the backyard and I'll be right here. You'll be able to sense if something is wrong."

"Alright, alright. You ready to play girl?" Kakashi asked with a smile to Surabi.

Surabi let out a playful growl and Sasuke smiled at her.

"I think she's happy here." Sasuke said.

"Of course she is. She gets to play and be around people all day. Well come on girl let's go train and you can show off."

Sasuke laid down on the pillow and put the blanket over him and grabbed his book as Kakashi and Surabi headed outside. Kakashi closed the back door and moved so he was in the middle of the backyard, but he could still see Sasuke perfectly on the couch. Kakashi looked at Surabi and saw that she was looking inside as well.

"They'll be okay girl. You could feel if something was wrong. Let's see what you've learnt so far."

Surabi took one last look inside before she turned her full attention to Kakashi. Kakashi watched as Surabi had black chakra building around her and Kakashi could feel the power and danger radiating off from her. She didn't do anything with it and Kakashi figured it would work as a scare tactic, but if he could figure out how to use that in an attack it would be good. Then he watched as she made lightening come out of her body and strike the ground beside him. That was something Kakashi knew he could work with and expand on. Kakashi then quickly moved as Surabi spat a fire ball at him that was the size of a soccer ball. Once that was done she sat down and waited for instruction.

"Good girl. Those are good techniques. I'll be able to expand on them and help you learn some new ones. Now let's see how you fight. Watch the claws and no teeth. I want to see your movement."

Surabi moved quickly and efficiently just like Kakashi had expected. Itachi trained her to protect and to fight. It's why he didn't focus much on techniques, he taught her how to kill. After twenty minutes Kakashi had a very good idea of what Surabi was capable of. Now he just needed to put her training to the next level and she would be ready for anything to come their way.

"Good girl. Now I promised you I would teach you something new. How about we work on that lightening of yours?"

Surabi danced around slightly and Kakashi knew she was excited. It was clear she loved to learn which was good. Kakashi could teach her a lot and she would be their secret weapon against any enemies. Kakashi knew he had some work cut out for him, but he was going to get Surabi in perfect fighting condition.

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Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba headed down the road in the forest. They didn't know exactly where they would find Sasuke's son's remains, but they were going to start with where Sasuke was found. They had been traveling in silence since they left three hours ago. None of them were in much of a good mood as they were on their way to try and find the remains of an infant baby that was their friend's first child that died in his arms. It wasn't meant to be a happy mission. It was meant to be sad and upsetting. It would take a couple of days to get to the location and then they had to search the area to see if they could even find the remains. They were all hoping they would be able to and then Sasuke would be able to grieve properly and have closure with this. They were all shocked to see Gaara, Temari and Kankuro coming their way. Once they were close enough Shikamaru gave Temari a hug as he spoke.

"What are you doing this way?"

"We're on our way to Konoha. We heard about Sasuke being found and we wanted to check in and see how things were going." Temari answered.

"Gaara-Sama." Neji said with a nod.

"It's good to see you all again. How is Sasuke?" Gaara asked.

"He's got a long road ahead of him. He spent the last week in the hospital. He went home last night with Kakashi." Shikamaru answered.

"Where is he living?" Gaara asked.

"Kakashi and him got a house together. It's 58 Forest Ave, it's close to the outskirts of the village." Shikamaru answered.

"Are you on a mission? I would have thought Tsunade-Sama would want to keep you in the village." Kankuro said.

"It's a bit of a story, but we're on a mission right now." Kiba answered.

"Is something wrong?" Temari asked.

"There is, but not in the traditional sense. There's no danger or threat right now besides the Sound looking for revenge against Sasuke. It's more of an emotional upset." Shikamaru answered.

"What happened?" Gaara asked.

"How much do you know about what happened when Sasuke was found?" Neji asked.

"Tsunade sent me a letter informing me that Sasuke was found and safe. That he was injured but would make a full recovery. I wanted to come and see Sasuke for myself and if there was anything we could do to help." Gaara answered.

"Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura arrived at the Sound location and found Sasuke. He had killed Orochimaru just seconds before they walked in the door. Sasuke was holding a newborn baby no more than ten minutes old. It was his daughter, Aimi." Shikamaru started.

"He has a kid?" Kankuro asked shocked.

"He does. She was born through a surrogate that was implanted with an egg from Kakashi's older sister that died over twenty years ago from a rare blood disease. Orochimaru was one of her doctors and had some of her eggs frozen in case she wanted them when she was cured. He later stole them and used Sasuke's sperm to fertilize them and implanted them into a surrogate. She was born at thirty-four weeks." Shikamaru continued.

"Holy shit." Kankuro said amazed at the situation.

"Is the baby okay?" Temari asked.

"She was kept in an incubator for two days just as a precaution and then kept for a week with Sasuke in the hospital. They are both okay. Sasuke is sore and in pain from it all still. It's going to take him some time to be okay physically again. His emotional state is the bigger issue right now." Shikamaru said.

"He went through three years of captivity that is not something he will be able to get passed very quickly." Gaara said.

"That's not the only thing Sasuke is dealing with." Kiba said sadly.

"What is it?" Temari asked.

"Just shy of a year ago another surrogate was used she gave birth at thirty weeks to a son. Sasuke was there to deliver the baby and he died in Sasuke's arms. Orochimaru came in some time later and took the baby and Sasuke never saw him again." Shikamaru said sadly.

"That is horrible." Temari said with hurt in her voice.

"He's grieving right now. According to Kakashi Sasuke spent five hours last night crying his heart out. He hasn't allowed himself to grieve in the past three years. He's been too focused on surviving to allow the emotions in. Now that he is finally safe he is struggling with the pain of the past three years and the loss of his son." Neji said.

"Kakashi is sending us on a mission to see if Akamaru can find the remains and Sasuke can finally put his son to rest." Kiba added sadly.

"That's unreal. To have been through everything else that he went through in the Sound and now he has this to go with it. Plus a newborn baby girl. He's gotta be a wreck." Kankuro said.

"He's struggling, but holding it together for Aimi. They are living with Kakashi and he is there for them. Sasuke has friends to help him get through this. Hopefully we can find his son and he can start to move on with knowing that his son is safe." Shikamaru said.

"We'll come with you." Gaara said and they could see the mixture of pain and anger in his eyes at the new information.

"You wanted to see Tsunade though." Kankuro said.

"We can when we return. This is more important." Gaara said.

"We could always use the help. We have to get close to the Sound base and we don't know who we will come across. There is a good chance that we'll run into Sound Ninjas." Shikamaru said.

"We will come with you. I can speak with Tsunade when we return. Sasuke deserves to put his son to rest properly and respectfully." Gaara said.

"Thank-you. It'll be safer with the three of you with us." Shikamaru said.

"We'll find Sasuke's son and hopefully we get to kill some of these bastards." Temari said with anger in her voice.

"I've never killed before, but I could change that quickly enough if I see anyone with a Sound symbol. After everything they put Sasuke through, they don't deserve to live or be called human." Kiba said with anger.

"Let's get moving it's a two day journey still." Shikamaru said.

They all made their way down the forest road so they could get to the Sound base that Sasuke was found in. It would be safer with three more ninja coming with them, especially one as powerful as Gaara on their side. All six of them were after one thing and one thing only to bring Sasuke's son back to him and none of them were willing to fail. If anyone stood in their way none of them had any problem striking them down.


	4. Follow Me- Update

Hello there!

I have begun a collection of new books for all ages from children's picture books to adult series that are being published online. You can connect with me and find out more information through my social media pages. I am working on finishing my novel called Satanic Inferno. It will be published through Kobo on March 1st, 2017. Check out my Facebook page for more information and a 10% discount code for the first few days of the release.

You have all followed me on Fanfiction and I am hoping you will continue to follow me now that I have transitioned into writing and publishing my own novels. But fear not I am still going to be working on Fanfiction and finishing all of my stories. I'm not going anywhere in that sense. All support would be greatly appreciated.

Thank-you so much to all of my loyal followers. Without you none of this would have been possible! If you have any questions or would like a sneak peek of my novel please Message me and I will send it your way.

Facebook: DianneRose2016


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